Judge John Edward Dowling, 82,
attorney, war hero, Ridgefield native,

John Edward Dowling, a popular Ridgefield attorney and raconteur who won two Purple Hearts in World War II, died Thursday, Feb. 5, at Danbury Hospital. He was 82 years old and had lived at Ridgefield Crossings on Route 7 for the past few years.
“Eddie” Dowling, one of only a couple of Ridgefield natives to return to town to practice law, may also have been Ridgefield’s favorite, and most entertaining, attorney. “He’s the sweetest guy around,” said Superior Court Judge Patricia Geen at a 1985 dinner in his honor. He’s a “classic Irishman, a rare jewel,” added Judge Howard J. Moraghan.
At age 29, the former FBI agent was elected Ridgefield’s probate judge, the first Democrat to hold that office in 70 years and the youngest probate judge in the state at the time.
The son of Michael and Mary Kelly Dowling, he was born on Jan. 16, 1922, in a High Ridge house behind St. Mary’s Church, where his father was the sexton for many years.
As a boy, he earned money for the family delivering newspapers. One of his customers was Judge Joseph H. Donnelly, then the only lawyer in town. At a dinner honoring Judge Dowling some years ago, Judge Donnelly observed that the young Dowling had been a “skinny” paperboy. Judge Dowling replied: “Donnelly didn’t tip too much either.”
Mr. Dowling graduated in 1939 from Ridgefield High School where the six-foot-four-inch student played basketball. He worked at the old Ridgefield Playhouse, clerked at a store, and drove a school bus to earn money while attending Danbury State Teachers College.
Fought in Europe
In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army and fought with the infantry in the invasion of Europe. Around Christmas 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, he rescued two injured comrades. Typically quiet about his war years, Judge Dowling would say little about the event, describing it tersely: “We were under attack and these fellows got wounded and I went out and got them out, back to a medic. It was under fire, but I got away with it.”
Private Dowling was wounded twice in the war, the more serious injury occurring in April 1945 during the invasion of Germany. “The war was rapidly ending,” he said in a 2002 interview. “We were liberating towns. They were happy to see us and not the Russians.”
He was a member of an infantry anti-tank unit, which set up a 57-mm gun on a road near the town of Unter Gruppenbach. An approaching German tank blew up the gun. Private Dowling and two other men were hit, and a fourth man was killed. Injured seriously enough to have been given the Last Rites, Private Dowling was sent to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., to recover, and was discharged from the Army in July.
Though he won the Soldiers Medal, two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and other commendations, Judge Dowling rarely talked of his war exploits and did not even receive his medals until 40 years after the war — and then, only because his son, Michael, researched and requested them from the Army.
Asked once about his war record, he replied, “You want a war record? Go see Dom Bedini. He jumped at D-Day.”
As for himself, “I was in the service — period.”
Late in life, when efforts were being made to record the experiences of Ridgefield soldiers in World War II, Judge Dowling allowed Press editor Macklin Reid to interview him on his service. He spoke little of the battle exploits, and much of the lighter incidents in the war.
“We never did hit a tank,” he admitted with a gleam in his eye. “My first shot with the anti-tank gun, I missed the tank and hit a house and it went through the basement. And you know what came out? Four hundred chickens! So after that, everyone in my unit would say, ‘Hit another house!’ They liked dead chicken meat.”
Probate victory
After his discharge, Judge Dowling obtained a law degree from Fordham University, and spent three years as an FBI agent in Illinois and Texas. He returned to town in 1951 and accomplished the then incredible: As a Democrat he was elected judge of probate, defeating the well-known Republican attorney Michael Bruno in a largely Republican town. The last Democrat to hold that office had been in 1879, and none has held it since.
“The response of townspeople to his candidacy must warm this young man’s heart and give him renewed inspiration to pursue his career with vigor and enthusiasm,” a Press editorial commented at the time. “During his school years here, Eddie Dowling worked hard. He clerked in a grocery store to earn money to continue his education in teachers college and later law school. Here is a local boy who has made good, a youth who, by diligent application to a program of study and work, has demonstrated that Ridgefield boys and girls need not necessarily go far afield to make their way in life.”
Judge Dowling continued to practice law here for most of the next half-century. Many young attorneys began their careers working in his office, including Joseph Egan, the current probate judge, Romeo Petroni and Sue Reynolds, both of whom later became Superior Court justices, George M. Cohan, and Jane Belote.
Townie
At Monday’s funeral Judge Egan called Judge Dowling “one of the best known and beloved people in Ridgefield.” Describing him as a “townie in the true sense of the word,” he said “Ed was great to and for the town of Ridgefield.”
“His life had its ups and downs,” he added. “He handled them all with class and dignity.”
Jane Belote said, “More than any other attorney I have ever known, John Dowling truly loved the law and enjoyed being a lawyer. As a summer intern in his office I discovered that, despite the roguish sense of humor and abundant Irish charm, he brought to his practice not only a keen analytic mind but also understanding, concern and tolerance for his often colorful clients.
“Unusual things happened regularly in John Edward’s life,” Attorney Belote said. “Every day was an opportunity for adventure.”
Pam Allen, who had been his legal secretary on and off for more than 30 years, said “he was a great boss. He was a legend. There won’t be another like him, ever.”
Many remember him also as a caring man, who often used his legal skills to assist people in need. “He’s helped Ridgefield a lot,” The Press once said in an editorial. “He’s one of the nicest guys in town, and if somebody needs a lawyer and can’t afford to pay, he’s the one most apt to help.”
Community work
Judge Dowling served the community as a member of the Board of Finance in the 1960s and the Veterans Park School Building Committee in the 1950s. He was appointed town attorney, both in the 1950s and in the late 1960s, and was frequently a moderator of town meetings. From 1959 to 1961, he was chief prosecutor in the Danbury Circuit Court, now the Superior Court.
He was one of the founders and a director of the Village Bank and Trust Company.
Judge Dowling was a longtime member of the Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department, and had served as a trustee for many years. At one point, he acquired an antique Seagraves fire engine, which he outfitted with church pews and used to haul fans to football games at Immaculate High School in Danbury. He later gave the truck to the Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department, which used it for parts in restoring and maintaining its 1931 Seagraves, which is used in parades.
He had been active at St. Mary’s Church where, in 1962, he chaired the committee that helped persuade voters to provide school bus transportation to St. Mary’s School in the days before state law required public busing of private school children.
In 2002, the Ridgefield Old Timers honored him at its annual awards banquet. Last May, he was a grand marshal of the Memorial Day Parade.
He enjoyed golf, and played frequently with other leaders of the business and professional community. He was a member of the Silver Spring Country Club for many years.
Famed for his sharp, wry wit, Judge Dowling regaled many with tales from his long career. Some described his FBI days, such as the time, in a Midwestern field, he stalked a criminal who turned out to be a scarecrow. Some told of unusual legal cases, such as the Bethel woman who left her sizable estate to a name she discovered using a Ouija board. And many were about life in Ridgefield, such as the time a well-known clergyman, who had been complaining for weeks about a pothole at a local gas station, grabbed a pole and went “fishing” in it to emphasize his point.
Geritol Gardens
When he was in his 70s, Judge Dowling lived for a number of years at Ballard Green, which he called “Geritol Gardens” and where he was still practicing law. One of the few single men living at the senior citizen community, he used to quip, “I never lock my door because there are 50 women watching it at all times.”
He had been a member of the Ridgefield Housing Authority for several years while at Ballard Green.
Judge Dowling’s wife, the former Regina Marie Malkiewicz, died in 1972. They met when he was an FBI agent in Chicago.
He is survived by eight children and their spouses: Mary and Carl Marino of Scottsdale, Ariz., Michael and Susan Dowling of Fairfield, Claire and Nick Deane of Montauk, N.Y., Margaret and Rick Thurston of Wellington, Fla., Theresa and Brian Phillips of Wilton, Joseph Dowling of Ridgefield, Anthony and Kristie Dowling of Raleigh, N.C., and John Jr. and Joanne Dowling of Fairfield; 12 grandchildren; and a sister, Mary Zandri of Rapid City, S.D.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Monday in St. Mary’s Church.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department, 6 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.