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Let Freedom Ring – The Ronald E. Dowdy Family Matching Gift Campaign
Jul 4, 2020 - Aug 10, 2020
Let Freedom Ring – The Semper Fi & America’s Fund and the Ronald E. Dowdy Family have raised $230,000!
The Ronald E. Dowdy Family Matching Gift Campaign has raised over $230,000 for the Semper Fi & America’s Fund Visiting Nurse Program and LCpl Parsons Welcome Home Fund for Vietnam Veterans. We are deeply grateful to The Ronald E. Dowdy Family for the tremendous impact the Let Freedom Ring campaign has on our nation’s Service Members and their families.
We thank everyone who has donated and helped us achieve this match and support our programs!
The Ronald E. Dowdy Family consists of Ron and Mary Ellen Dowdy, children Erin, Megan, and RJ; grandchildren Avery, Peyton, and Charlie; and beloved puppies Dakota, Whistle, and Dixie.
Ron Dowdy was born in Alexandria, Virginia where he attended George Washington High School and then East Carolina University. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, August 1966. He completed Navigator Training at Mather Air Force Base (Sacramento, CA) in June 1967; graduated from Navigator Bombardier School which included Survival Training (Spokane, WA) and then was transferred to Castle Air Force Base (Merced, CA) for 90 days of B-52 Combat Training. Capt. Dowdy was assigned his permanent duty station at McCoy Air Force Base (Orlando, FL) in June 1968. He was subsequently shipped out on four six-month duty tours to Vietnam where he flew 4000+ hours and 232 B-52 Combat Missions over North and South Vietnam. Mr. Dowdy resigned his commission as a Captain in September 1971 and settled in Orlando, Florida where he began a successful career in Commercial Real Estate Development and Leasing in the tourist corridor.
Mary Ellen Dowdy is a graduate of West Liberty State University in West Virginia. She moved to Orlando to pursue her post-graduate studies, where she met Ron and helped him grow their business while raising their three children.
Erin, Megan, and RJ were all born in Orlando and graduated from Lake Highland Preparatory School. Erin and Megan went on to graduate from Wake Forest University and RJ from Georgia Institute of Technology. Erin now resides in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania where she teaches elementary education while raising her three children Avery, Peyton, and Charlie. Megan lives in Orlando where she manages the family real estate business with RJ and teaches at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. She founded the post season college bowl game, The Cure Bowl, which has donated over $3.5 million to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. RJ also lives in Orlando and runs the family business comprising of over 250,000 square feet of commercial real estate, which includes over 65 tenants.