Louis (Kit) McDowall

January 05, 1944 — October 15, 2023

Louis McDowall

Service Details

Louis Kit McDowall was born on Jan 5, 1944, at his home on a Farm south of Casey, Iowa where his family lived until 1949 when they moved to a farm south of Stuart, Iowa. Kit was the 5th child of parents Keith and Opal (Daniels) McDowall.

Kit attended a one room country school (Lincoln #9) with his brother and sisters and about 20 other area kids until he started attending Stuart Community School in 7th grade. Kit was very active in High School, participating in band (sax), chorus (including small groups), baseball, football and track. His Senior year he was selected All-Conference in football and was President of the Student Council and a member of the National Honor Society. He graduated from High School in 1962.

During the Stuart years, Kit met his bride to be, Milcena (Millie) Gilman. They lived a mile apart and had their first date in the 8th grade. That first date led to a lifetime together and they celebrated 59 years of marriage on June 13, 2023.

After Highschool, Kit attended State College of Iowa (now UNI), graduating with a BS in Mathematics. He was involved in several college activities, including freshman football and baseball, President of the Men’s Union, and was all -campus intra-mural handball champion for 3 years.

In 1966, after graduation, Kit started working as a Computer Programmer at John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa. Computers were just being introduced into business operations and Kit was at the forefront. Kit and Millie bought their first home in Cedar Falls, Iowa and their children Kelly (1966) and Mindi (1968) were born.

In 1969, the family moved to Coralville where Kit started work for IBM as a Technical Representative covering the University of Iowa. In 1971, Kit took a leave of absence from IBM to earn a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Iowa. After graduation, the family moved to Coal Valley, Illinois, where Kit rejoined IBM as a Technical Representative covering John Deere.

After 4 years of covering John Deere, and wanting to be closer to family, they moved back to central Iowa, where they bought a home in Altoona and Kit started a successful role as a Technical Representative covering the State of Iowa. He enjoyed a long (21 years) and successful relationship with many at the State of Iowa agencies, especially the Central Computer site in Des Moines, the Department of Transportation in Ames, and the Courts of Iowa in Des Moines.

In November 1997, Kit took a role that allowed him to travel globally for IBM selling IBM Software. During the 14 months in this role, he travelled to 13 countries on 4 Continents and at each location he visited for business, he always took a 1 or 2-day side trip to explore the area.

Kit retired from IBM in 1999 after 30 years of service during which time he was recognized with 9 National Awards and numerous Regional and Local IBM Awards. Kit still wanted to be engaged in business so after 6 months of retirement he decided he was bored and joined Handera (a software company for handheld devices) where he worked for 5 years until his final retirement in 2004.

Kit was active in community activities: Little League baseball coach for Kelly’s teams for 10 years, League President for 2 years, Southeast Polk Booster Club officer for many years (2 as President), PA announcer for Southeast Polk football games for 19 years, member of the Altoona United Methodist Church choir for 10 years, and active member of Altoona Lions Club. Kit received multiple awards from Southeast Polk Schools for his active support.

While Kit was active in work and community activities, his priority was always his family. He attended every activity his kids participated in. Kelly was involved in baseball, basketball, football, 4-H and horse shows. Mindi was involved in Choir, Swing Choir, Musicals, Dancing (Kit always with a video camera in hand) 4-H and horse shows.

Kit was very proud of the adults his children have become and of the happy marriages they have. He adored his 4 wonderful grandchildren and being Uncle Kit to Jenna and Julia Cole. Once there were Grandkids the only priority was seeing them as often as possible. Many summers Kelly and Mindi and their families would come to Grandma and Grandpa’s place and often be joined by Jenna and Julia playing everything possible for a week or so. They would swing on the park swing Kit got for Mindi when she was young, playhouse with the kitchen set he built them, go fishing or get pulled around by Kit on the sled with the lawn mower.

Kit built a swing set/fort in Colorado, helped Kelly build his barn and put up fences. He built a swing set/fort in Wisconsin large enough for all the neighbor kids to also play and built a kitchen set that was used for years. He was able to watch Klay become World Champion in Horsemanship riding Bruce and was so proud of him when he graduated from Law School. He went to Claire’s high school musicals, and loved to hear about her successes riding for Oklahoma State University where she is a Senior. He attended Sami’s Dressage shows and Fairs and was thrilled she decided to go to Iowa State where she is a sophomore. He loved talking sports with Will and keeping up with his Cross Country and Track meets. Will is a Senior in High School. He got Jenna started in golf and was so proud of her success in college as she became a Physician’s Assistant. He loved the time that he spent with Julia fishing, watching her soccer games and playing in the yard. He was so proud and excited for her adventure at Eckerd College in St Petersburg, Florida where she is a freshman. Kit also loved the Scott Hagenkord family and was so proud of the great father Scott had become; Scott’s family is part of our family.

Kit loved his friends: watching Iowa and Iowa State games with Sandy and Harry Clark and being neighbors with Gil and Norma Christensen. A special thank you to Harry Clark and Chuck Hartman for their many games of Pool with Kit. He looked forward to every game. Thank you as well to Chuck for delivering a pool table to the Nursing home so Kit could keep playing.

Kit is loved forever and survived by his wife, Millie McDowall; Kelly (Marnie) McDowall, Klay and Claire; Mindi (Bob) Whiteis, Sami and Will; Sister Rita (Floyd) Faust and Sister Sue (Dean) Ford, Sister-in-law Donna McDowall and his many nieces and nephews.

No services are planned at this time.

Memorial contributions can be made to Alzheimer’s Association, 1415 28th Street #430, West Des Moines, Iowa 50266

Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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