JAMES NEWTON DOWDEN, FUHS '42?

(James may have enlisted in the marines before he graduated from FUHS.)

Dowden, James Newton, Aug. 18, 1925 - Oct. 23, 2007, Graveside memorial services for James N. Dowden are set for Saturday, Dec. 8, at Fairhaven Memorial Park, Orange, at 12:30 p.m. Born in Fullerton, he died in Sacramento following an extended illness. He is survived by former wives, Esther Dowden and Marilyn Lobner, both of Sacramento; sons, Michael, Tahoe City, and Patrick, Loomis; sister, Mariana Bornholdt, Santa Fe, N.M.; brother, John, Newport Beach; and two grandchildren. He enlisted in 1942 and saw action with the 1st Marine Division at Finschhaven, New Guinea; Cape Gloucester, New Britain; Guadacanal, Peleliu, and Okinawa. Known as "Jungle Jim" by his comrades, he was awarded the Purple Heart Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster (Peleliu and Okinawa) and discharged with the rank of corporal. He graduated from Fullerton JC in 1948 and until his retirement in 1985, he worked for the State Lands Commission, surveying and mapping shorelines and adjacent wetlands. In retirement, he and his sister wrote two family histories. He also authored two volumes about his military experiences: "With the First Marines in the Southwestern and Western Pacific." Factus Non Victus
Published in the Orange County Register on 12/5/2007.
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