Dr. John P. Dow ’57 died on October 11, 2009, in Pittsfield, Maine.

He was born on August 13, 1934, in Guilford, Maine, and prepared for college at Foxcroft Academy. He graduated cum laude from Bowdoin, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and Harvard Medical School in 1961. He did his internship and residency at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. Medicine was his passion. He worked at Sebasticook Valley Hospital, where he was chief of staff for 13 years, and in his family practice in Pittsfield from 1963 until he retired because of ill health in 1999. He spent his evenings calling patients to check on them. He was a member of the Aesculapian Club of Boston, the Maine Medical Society and National Board of Medical Examiners; a life member of the American Association of Family Practice and past president of the Maine chapter; and a past president of the Pittsfield Kiwanis Club. He served on the School Administrative District 53 school board, the Pittsfield Town Council, and the Pittsfield parks and recreation committee. He was the regional school district doctor for 15 years, and was the Maine Central Institute physician for 10 years. In 1963, he was responsible for starting the Somerset and Maine Medical Association utilization review process for medicine. In 2000, he and two colleagues founded the Hartland Free Clinic. He was awarded the Pittsfield Jaycees Distinguished Service Award, the Mary Chandler Lowell Award from Foxcroft Academy and the 1982 President’s Award of the Maine Medical Association. He was a member of the Congregational Church and the Pittsfield Masonic Lodge, Meridian 125, AF & AM. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Louise Thomas Dow; four sons, John Thomas Dow, Michael Prescott Dow, William Lincoln Dow ’90, and David Stoddard Dow; and 11 grandchildren. He was predeceased by three brothers, Malcolm Dow, Alfred Dow and Russell Dow; and a sister, Dorothy Dow Warren.