Agnes Westervelt Dowling Simpson

Agnes Westervelt Dowling Simpson, 87, longtime resident of the Wiregrass Area passed away peacefully on Monday, April 23, 2012 at her residence.

rnFuneral services will be held 11 am Saturday, April 28, 2012 at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity with Rev. Jim Flowers officiating. Graveside services will follow in Memory Hill Cemetery with Robert Byrd directing. In lieu of flkowers memorial donations may be made to your favorite charity. rnMrs. Simpson was born May 29, 1924 in Prescott, AZ and moved to Dunedin, FL at an early age. She graduated from Clearwater High School with honors and attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where she was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and met her future husband R.A. Dowling. She served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and returned to the Wiregrass Area to raise her family. In 1947, along with her husband she was granted a license to put an AM Radio Station on the air which was called WOOF. In 1960 Agnes and R.A. compiled and published the complete genealogy of the Dowling Family of the South. Following her husband’s death, Agnes forged on with the radio station and in 1963 she filed for the first FM radio station in Dothan as well as one of the first in the state of Alabama. WOOF FM 99.7 went live on the air in September 1964. She was a vital part of the radio station working daily selling commercials and broadcasting on both stations in which she won awards for her news casting. She was the current president of WOOF Radio and went to the office daily until her recent brief illness. rnMrs. Simpson was a longtime member of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Dothan where she was dedicated to a lifetime of service. Her service in the church included being the first woman to serve on the Vestry and was elected by the parishioners to be a Junior Warden and Senior Warden. She was a member of the choir and the Altar Guild for over 50 years. Mrs. Simpson was also a graduate of the First Theological Education by Extension Course offered at the Church of the Nativity. rnMany awards and acknowledgments have been bestowed upon Mrs. Simpson, some of the most memorable being; the Silver Medal Award from the Dothan Advertising Federation their highest award, the first female to receive the Alabama Broadcaster of the Year 1987, Woman of the Year Dothan, AL 1961, Arthritis Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year 1996, Southeast Alabama Advertising Federation’s 1st ever Advertising Pioneer Award 2003, and the Dothan Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Membership Award 2003. rnMrs. Simpson was an advocate of community service and was involved with many organizations including; Past President of the Alabama Broadcaster’s Association, Member of the Governor’s Task Force on Economic Development, Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce, Salvation Army, Downtown Redevelopment Authority, Fine Arts Club, Book Review Club, Dothan-Houston County Substance Abuse Board, Friends of the Opera House, Bridge Club, Dothan Advertising Federation, Parent Teacher Association, Alabama Air Fair, Dothan Country Club, Eclectas Club, Historical Society, S.E.D.A.C. Board, Cherokee Garden Club, and Kiwanis Club. She was also inducted in the First Alabama Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in 2008 and the First Dothan Area chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame in 2011. rnMrs. Simpson was preceded in death by her parents, Raymond Britton Westervelt and Agnes Ethel Burns Westervelt, her husband R.A. Dowling, her sons Raymond Britton Dowling and Brian Westervelt Dowling, and a granddaughter Ariane Cassegrain Livaudais. rnSurvivors include her daughters, Jeannie Dowling Livaudais of Mandeville, LA, and Leigh Simpson Thomas and her husband Jonathan of Pinckard, AL; her son Haywood Hart Dowling of Dothan; grandchildren, Laura Catherine Dowling of Dallas, TX, Britten Livaudais Treder and her husband Christoph of Mandeville, LA, Alexandra Livaudais Brenan and her husband Tim of Virginia Beach, VA, Ariane Montgomery Livaudais of New Orleans, LA, and Zachary Simpson of Newtonville, MA; a host of extended family and friends also survive. rnrnServing as pallbearers will be Brad Whitehead, A.Z. Stanley, Walter Simms, Moe Sigmon, Willie Robinson, Rick Patrick, Phil Paramore, Sam Kessel, John Houston, Michael Holderfield, Lance Griffin, Stephen Gilder, Gary Gibson, Hal Edwards, John Daniel, Josh Cosby, Jon Cosby, Spencer Colbert, and Taylor Barbaree. Burial Date: January 1, 1970