McKinney Dow Lambert Jr.

Retirement

Dow retired from Cascade Broadcasting Company in 1990, after 46 years working in both radio and television. Sadly, Lenore died less than two years later, before she herself retired, so they did not get the opportunity to enjoy retired life together.

After Lenore died, Dow considered selling the house he had lived in for forty years (picture of house with Dow and Eloise on porch), but instead invited his sister Eloise to share the house with him. Eloise's husband, Glen Bonett, died a few months before Lenore, and Eloise decided it was time for a change of scenery...she had lived in the same block for the past fifty years. So Eloise moved to Yakima and she and Dow shared the house for ten years until October, 2002, when they both moved into separate apartments at Sun Tower Retirement Home in downtown Yakima, where their eldest sister, Wilma, had been living since 1996.

Dow and Eloise made several trips together; they visited cousins in Iowa, Nebraska, and West Virginia, visited Dow's son Steve in Florida, and their sister Wilma in California, as well as numerous trips to Seattle to visit friends and relatives.

In 1996, their eldest sister, Wilma, moved back to Yakima from Hemet, California, following the death of her husband, Russ Dunn. Wilma chose not to live with her two younger siblings, and moved into an apartment in the Sun Towers complex in downtown Yakima, where it would be easier for her to maintain her very active social schedule. Having the three siblings together was a lot of fun for the nieces and nephews, as there were always three versions of every childhood story that the aunts and uncle would tell at family gatherings. Wilma really liked Sun Tower, and always encouraged Dow and Eloise to move there, so it was at the top of their list when they finally decided they were ready.

Dow's retirement activities focused around golf, singing, genealogical research, family, and health. He was an avid golfer from about 1946 until the early 1990s, but he did not continue long after he retired, due to some knee and back problems. He continued to enjoy watching all the golf matches on television, though, and if he was busy with some other activity he would tape the match and watch it later.

Singing

Dow loved to sing, and sang with several choirs over the years, including the Englewood Christian Church choir (1962-2002), the Yakima Symphony Chorus (1971-1999), and the Camerata Club (1969-1972, and 1992-2002). Years of training as a radio announcer produced a clear, resonant voice that was fairly easy to pick out of the other voices in the choir. His children all remember the songs that he taught them on road trips from Yakima to Seattle in the fifties...Billie Boy, Bill Grogan's Goat, The Three Little Fiddies, and others. In the late sixties, Dow decided to get some formal training, and took voice lessons at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, WA. Already a member of his church choir, he joined the Camerata Club, and also sang with the Ambassador's, a 12-member off-shoot of the Camerata Club.

This picture was taken at the 1993 International Choral Festival in Leavenworth, WA, shortly after the Camerata Club was re-activated in 1992 after dis-banding 20 years earlier.

In addition to singing with the Camerata Club, Dow was active in the leadership, and contributed many hours to various projects to support club activities. He put his computer to use to maintain membership records, produce programs for their concerts, and even produce dozens of copies of the CDs of several of the annual concerts for distribution to members and concert attendees. He was well-regarded by the other members, and his family and friends were thrilled when many of the Camerata Club prepared a special choral presentation for Dow's memorial service.

Genealogical Research

Dow became interested in genealogical research in the mid-1980s, and began collecting and organizing information on family members. It was slow-going at first but he found a computer program to help, and talked to family members to learn what he could. But he soon exhausted all local knowledge of his father's ancestry. But once he managed to make a few contacts outside the immediate family, he found numerous cousins who were also researching their lines of the family, and shared information with him.

In 1988 Dow received a letter from Jack Slasor, who, after they corresponded and compared notes, turned out to be a second cousin. Jack's maternal grandfather, Leroy Vinson Slasor, and Dow's maternal grandmother, Delilah Viola Slasor, were brother and sister. Jack was born in Yakima, like Dow, but two years earlier. His family moved away in 1929 and if Jack and Dow met during those early childhood years neither of them remembered it. In 1965 Jack became interested in researching the Slasor line. He had visited Dow's mother, Bessie, in Seattle a number of times, and she gave him info on her mother, Delilah. Another twenty years passed and Jack located Dow while trying to re-locate Bessie for more info on her own family. At that time Jack and his wife, Jeanne, were retired and having many adventures living in the Caribbean aboard their sailboat, TRITON, that they built in Seattle. Jack and his wife Jeanne corresponded regularly with Dow and Eloise, and they shared information and collaborated on each other's genealogical efforts to their mutual benefit and enjoyment.

David Arthur Dillehay, Council Bluffs, Iowa.

In November, 1993 Dow learned of a possible cousin in Council Bluffs, Iowa, who had written to the genealogy group in Yakima for information on Dow's grandfather, William Lafayette Lambert, and particularly his wife, Martha Jane Dillehay. Dow replied to the letter, written by David Dillehay, and thus began a new chapter in his genealogical studies. Dow had very little information on his father's side of the family. Through David and his family contacts, Dow greatly increased his information on the Lambert family. David's great grandfather, Alfred Dillehay, was a brother to Dow's grandmother, Martha Jane (Dillehay) Lambert, making David and Dow second cousins once removed. Dow and David worked together to help each other fill in gaps in their records.

After corresponding for eighteen months, Dow invited himself to visit David and his family in April, 1995. David graciously accepted the invitation, and Dow had a wonderful time. David and Dow drove all over, taking photos of tombstones marking many Lamberts who are buried in Iowa and Nebraska. They even located the McKinney Lambert farm, where the current owners invited them come in and look around. During his visit, Dow learned of a cousin in West Virginia, Gary Lambert (common ancestor is great-great-great grandfather Job Lambert), who was organizing a Lambert family reunion for the following year.

Old McKinney Lambert Home, in Fremont County, Iowa. All that remains of the original home where Dow's great Uncle McKinney lived from 1852-1905 is the dining room and an upstairs bedroom.

In July, 1995, Dow and Eloise journeyed to West Virginia to attend the Lambert Family Reunion, and met many cousins for the first time. They spent several days enduring the heat and humidity to drive to all the cemeteries in the area to take pictures of the headstones marking many Lambert ancestors. Dow and Eloise even located the house where their grandfather William lived for a time with his brother, after William's wife Martha died.

In May, 1996, Dow wrote to David Dillehay, "Great news! We might have found a breakthrough in the search for Martha Jane. Eloise and I just discovered some Sunday school Easter cards, among some old pictures, which came from Champion, Chase Co., Nebraska. One had my dad's name, in his handwriting, on the back. It was dated 1888. He would have been 15 at the time. That led to speculation that his parents could have moved some of the family to Nebraska. One of dad's sisters lived in Bartley when we visited them in 1933. Martha died in 1898, and as you know, we have been unable to find where she was buried. My guess is that she died in Nebraska and is probably buried there. My gf apparently then went to live with McKinney in Iowa since he is listed there in the 1890 census. My dad could have come to WA at that time, where his dad joined him sometime later, as they were living together in 1910 when my parents were married. I have written to the genealogical society in Imperial, NE, which is just a few miles from Champion, asking for help in finding an obituary or any other information about them."

Two weeks later Dow wrote to David with more good news. "I received an answer from Imperial, NE, yesterday. Martha Jane is buried at Lakeview cemetery near Champion, along with a son, William Arthur. They apparently moved to Champion sometime after Eva Lena died in 1884. Martha died in 1888 and Estella was married there in 1889. William apparently then went to live with McKinney, as the 1890 census showed him living there. My dad probably came to Washington about that time, although he is not in the local census for 1890 or 1900. He might not have come to Yakima until after that. I know he was a volunteer fireman here for awhile before the fire department turned professional in 1905 when he joined the department. We visited Estella and her husband, Henry Alley, in Bartley, NE, in 1933. Anyway, the mystery of what happened to Martha Jane is now solved."

In June, 1996, Eloise accompanied Dow on a return visit to David Dillehay. On this trip Dow and Eloise were again received graciously by the David Dillehay family, and also got to meet another Dillehay cousin, Dennis, and his wife Anna. Dow and Dennis had corresponded for a couple of years, sharing their genealogy research.

Family

Retirement gave Dow more time to spend with his children, granddaughter, sisters, nieces, and cousins. Until a stroke made it too hard for him to drive, he and Eloise were always hankering to make road trips, often to Seattle to visit his children, other relatives, and old friends.

Dow Jr., Dow III, Marlene, and Heather Brown, about 1992.

Dow with sisters Eloise and Wilma, and sons Steve and Dow in 1998.

Dow with sisters, Eloise, Wilma, and Wilma's great granddaughter, Shannon Anderson, in 1999.

Dow Jr., Dow III, Mike, and Steve in back, with Eloise, Wilma, and Steve's daughter, Joan, in front. 1999.

Health

Despite some significant health problems late in life, Dow enjoyed a fairly active retirement until the last couple of years. He survived prostate cancer in 1990, a heart attack in 1991, a bleeding ulcer in 1992, and had his gall bladder removed in 1996. He had laser surgery to correct his vision in 1997, and had a small carcinoma removed from his forehead in early 2001. He bounced back from all of these events in very short time, and continued on with his retirement activities. In June, 2001, he had a left-brain stroke (now called a brain attack by some in the medical community). Although he recovered some use of his right leg, and could walk with a cane and even renewed his driver's license, he never regained any use of his right hand. He made good progress learning to write with his left hand, but several subsequent strokes kept setting him back, and in October 2002 he decided to move out of the house and into a retirement home. He kept his hopes high, and maintained as much independence as possible right to the end.

Dow pretending to enjoy some exercise following a heart attack in 1991.

Dow with his physical therapy handlers shortly after his first stroke in June, 2001.

This is the day Dow moved to the Chesterley Meadows Assisted Living Facility, in May 2002, following five weeks of rehab at the Landmark Nursing Home. He really liked his motorized wheel chair, but objected to people calling it his electric chair

Dow is buried at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima.