Roger Dowdy in 2013.

| Credit: SOSLAND PUBLISHING CO.

WOODLAWN, ILLINOIS, US — Roger Dowdy, former international president of the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS), died Sept. 4 at his residence in Woodlawn, Illinois, US. He was 79.

Dowdy served as GEAPS president in 2003-04. Prior to that, he served in chapter leadership and as a member of the Chapter Resource and Educational Programming committee. He was elected in 1999 as an international director and 2001 as second vice president in succession to the office of president.

“An enduring memory of Roger by anyone who knew him or everyone who simply met him, was his passion for having fun working with and mentoring people,” said David Krejci, former GEAPS executive vice president who retired in 2019. “Roger will be missed, but his leadership service to the grain industry through GEAPS preserves the memory.”

Dowdy was born May 18, 1944, in Taylorville, Illinois, US, to the late Shirley Arnold Dowdy and Ruby Pearl Kearney.

Dowdy worked in the grain industry for 48 years. He spent 29 years of his career with Consolidated Grain & Barge. Early in his career, he worked at Stonington Cooperative Grain Co. and the Pillsbury Co.

He served in the US Army and was honorably discharged in 1969.

In his free time, Dowdy loved watching high school sports, his beloved St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, playing cards, and hunting.

Dowdy is survived by his wife: Nancy E. Dowdy of Woodlawn; sons Tim (Kristie) Dowdy of Indianapolis, Indiana, US; Bruce (Jackie) Dowdy of Stonington, Illinois, US; Jared (Sarah Richardson) Dowdy of Dix, Illinois, US; grandsons Matt, Austin, Tyler, Caleb, and Will Dowdy; brother Larry R. Dowdy; sister Gloria (Larry) Budd, all of Taylorville, Illinois, US; and his sister-in-law Sandra (Tom Shurtz) Presswood of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, US. Dowdy also had many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Margaret (Peggy) Hunt and Laura Maxine Dowdy, and sister-in-law Jana Dowdy.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made in Dowdy’s name to either the Wounded Warrior Project or The American Cancer Society for Prostate Cancer Research.