Sally Noyes Dowling

Sally Noyes Dowling, age 68, of Toledo and Mystic, Connecticut, rejoined her Heavenly Father on Wednesday, September 13, 2023 in the presence of family, friends, and loving caregivers confident in a life everafter and having completed God’s work in this lifetime. Sally was raised in Oakdale and Norwich, Connecticut, the second of six children born to Harrison and Barbara Noyes, long-time owners and publishers of the Norwich Bulletin, a daily newspaper covering eastern Connecticut in continuous publication since 1796. Sally attended Norwich Free Academy, where she developed many lifelong friendships, and thereafter entered college at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. While at Ohio Wesleyan, where Sally studied human behaviors and childhood development, she joined the Tri Delta Sorority and quickly established close relationships with its many members. Sally’s outgoing personality, bright smile, and glowing emerald green eyes, together with her mischievous and fun-loving spirit, where laughter was always present, made any time with her on campus special. She could light up any room she entered.

After college Sally worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines, trained in Dallas, but ultimately stationed in New York City. She traveled all parts of the country, not surprisingly making many friends, and meeting many different celebrities, including a once unruly John Belushi whom she tamed and eventually befriended. She loved her time in the air.

But Sally’s true passion – her calling – was her children. In 1982 Sally and then husband Jim Dowling welcomed James Dowling, a child she would forever refer to as her “adorable 10-2 baby”, a reference to Jamie’s’ birth weight, a hefty carry given Sally’s small frame. Four years later, Charles arrived, Sally’s free spirited child, much like her, with an incurable curiosity, and a sense of passionate creativity. In 1989 William appeared, welcomed by his brothers, completing their family, and delivering to Sally the joy of raising three young children. Sally enjoyed every moment of her children’s youth, finding ways, especially with William, for them to miss the bus so she could drive them to school herself. Never a disciplinarian, Sally would sometimes declare “ice cream days” when she’d keep the boys home from school, celebrating their togetherness, and scooping ice cream in the process. Sally loved and nurtured her boys, making sure they were on the right track, and preparing them for the challenges of life. Jamie, Charlie, and Will were always the center of her earthly universe.

In March, 1984 Sally began a walk with her Savoir Jesus Christ after being called by Him to share in His ministry. She studied the Bible voraciously, reading it twice, cover to cover, and taught and attended Bible studies in both Connecticut and Toledo. Scriptured readings were a part of Sally’s every day routine, and remained so throughout her life.

During a 25th class reunion at Ohio Wesleyan, Sally unexpectedly became reacquainted with Rudy Peckinpaugh, another Ohio Wesleyan graduate she met during her sophomore year. The two instantly reconnected and thereafter began a regular commute between Connecticut and Ohio, often spending weekends in New York City to enjoy Broadway shows and dinners together. Ultimately, Rudy convinced Sally to leave her beloved Connecticut and move to Toledo. They bought a home together, which Sally decorated impeccably, capturing a taste of her beloved New England. Not long after they reconnected, Rudy’s family home in West Palm Beach was significantly damaged by three successive hurricanes. Seeing only the positive, and looking beyond the damage, Sally turned her focus and talents to restoring the home, moving to Florida to plan and oversee a several year renovation. Like their home in Toledo, West Palm became another “house that Sally built”. Although Sally enjoyed Florida, and made many new friends there, she missed the New England winters, and insisted on spending the holidays with her children in Connecticut. For years, Sally and Rudy enjoyed New Year’s Eve dinners at the Daniel Packer Inne, a quaint inn built in 1756, now converted to a lovely restaurant overlooking the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut. Sally’s time in Mystic, especially with her boys, was among the best moments of her life.

On July 4, 2018, during a visit to Mystic, Sally had a fall, sustained a closed head injury, and was later diagnosed with a frontotemporal dementia, a dreadful condition affecting memory, cognition, and neuro-muscular activity. Sally courageously battled the disease, aggressively participating in the retraining programs recommended by the Cleveland Clinic, the Toledo Clinic, and the University of Toledo. During that period Sally was surrounded by an incredible group of loving and dedicated caregivers who encouraged, supported, and were present during each step of Sally’s journey. Despite the many challenges, Sally faced each day with grace, dignity, and an abiding faith in her Savior Jesus Christ. On that she never wandered, reminding regularly that “God has a plan, a good plan, a plan to prosper, and not to harm,” requiring only patience to understand the scope of His workings. And whenever a difficult moment was encountered, no matter the origin, Sally would always say “We can worry or we can pray, one works and the other doesn’t.” She never lost her faith.

But her illness, frontotemporal dementia, was unrelenting, insidiously progressive and steadily stealing from Sally her ability to walk, talk, and otherwise enjoy the life she so dearly loved. Twenty-one months ago, Sally transitioned to The Grove, a local memory care center where she received assistance from their staff as well as her compassionate caregivers. Despite all her challenges, Sally never lost her big, beautiful smile, her contagious laughter, her mischievous spirit, or the magnificent stare in her gorgeous green eyes. She left this world confident in her faith and having made it a better place for everyone who encountered her.

Sally was preceded in death by her parents, Harrison and Barbara Noyes, and her youngest brother, James Denison Noyes. In addition to her bible study colleagues, sorority sisters, and many friends from Connecticut, Florida, Lakeside, and Toledo, Sally is survived by her three boys, James (Annie) Dowling from Fairfax, Vermont, and their children, Sally’s beloved grandchildren, Stasia, age 3, and James, age 1, Charles Dowling, also of Fairfax, and William Dowling (Savannah), of Asheville, North Carolina, her three sisters, Lynn Starr Noyes (Walter), of Vero Beach, Florida, Nancy Whiting Noyes, of Mystic, Connecticut, Elizabeth Noyes Sargent (Mark), of Delmar, New York, and her brother, Charles Denison Noyes (Karin), from Salisbury, Connecticut, along with many nieces and nephews and their offspring, all of whom will greatly miss their fun-loving Aunt Sally. Also mourning Sally’s death is Rudy Peckinpaugh, her life’s companion and always smitten admirer since the day they first met.

Sally’s final years, and certainly her final days, were enormously uplifted with the loving support and unwavering assistance from many at The Grove, and also the hospice team from Ohio Living, with particular thanks to Sean Sullivan. But by far the family’s deepest and most profound gratitude is extended to Sally’s many caregivers, Darla Perry, Kim Rau, Sherri Frazier, Taylor Perry, Dawn Hampton, Beverly Rowell, and Molly Spieldenner, all Heaven sent angels dispatched with instructions to vastly improve the quality of Sally’s life during the progression of her awful disease. Ladies, we are humbled by your kind, gracious, compassionate, and loving commitment to Sally, and shall forever be in your debt.

A memorial service will be held in the chapel at the First Presbyterian Church, 200 East Broadway Street, Maumee, Ohio on Friday, September 22, 2023 at 11 am. Memorial remembrances can be made to The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, www.theaftd.org, or the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org, or Ohio Wesleyan University.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116, Verse 15.