Lescher Dowling

12/28/1922 – 02/13/2024 

Walter Lescher Dowling of Sunnyvale, Calif., a member of The Greatest Generation, passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. He was 101 years old, but if you met him, you would have guessed he was much younger. 

Born and raised in Carpinteria, Calif., Lescher was the middle child of Julia (Lescher) Dowling and Walter Lee Dowling. His siblings were older sister Martha Rose (Dowling) Rodriquez and younger brother Kenneth Theodore Dowling; his older half-sisters were Dortha Dowling and Irene Dowling. Lescher’s father co-owned and operated the Rincon Garage & Machine Shop in downtown Carpinteria, but he encouraged his children to seek higher education. 

Lescher would go on to become a schoolteacher, but first, WWII would intervene. At a school dance, Lescher met his future wife, Dorothy Eichelberger from Santa Barbara. He was immediately smitten and did his best to win her affection. But Lescher was soon drafted into the Army to serve overseas in the China Burma India 7th Veterinary Corps (CBI). After basic training in Colorado, his company was shipped off with a load of mules destined for troop support. Once in China, Lescher managed to trade stable duties for the task of company mail clerk. Dorothy felt it was her patriotic duty to write to a serviceman, and it was during their wartime correspondence that their relationship truly blossomed. 

Back home after the war, Lescher attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, on the G.I. Bill. In 1950 he graduated with an Industrial Arts teaching credential, married Dorothy, moved to San Diego and taught for three years at the San Diego County Juvenile Hall. He often remarked that working at “Juvie” gained more positive responses from potential employers than the other skills listed in his resume. 

After earning a General Secondary Credential at San Diego State, he landed a job at his old alma mater, Carpinteria High School. He taught Shop, Printing, Drafting, Photography and Driver Training for the next 12 years. During that time, he and Dorothy also had two children, Richard and Lela Ann. They all enjoyed Dad’s summers off, when the trailer would be stocked with supplies, and off they would go to adventures in Yosemite or Sequoia National Parks, the beach or just the open road. 

After deciding to focus on photography, Lescher left teaching to take classes at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. From there, he was hired to head the Photography Department at Foothill Junior College in Los Altos Hills. “Mr. D” was a popular and personable teacher, always willing to chat or field questions during his lunch hour in his office on campus. He always said that working with students kept him young. 

Upon retirement in 1990, Lescher and Dorothy began to take educational travel and learning adventures through Elderhostel. He rekindled a much-loved model airplane hobby from his youth, joining SAM 21, the Society of Antique Modelers. He built and flew gas-powered remote-controlled model airplanes, but mostly enjoyed collecting and repairing their vintage engines. 

Lescher was also on the founding committee for the Foothill-De Anza Community College Retirees Association, FODARA. In addition, he and Dorothy took many memoir writing classes from their local senior center, and some of those stories made their way into The Grapevine, the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History’s newsletter. 

Lescher and Dorothy also became involved with the nationwide CBI Veterans Association, attending monthly luncheon get-togethers and yearly national conventions with other CBI veterans, many of whom became great friends. Lescher served on the board of the San Francisco-based chapter Basha as commander, vice commander, newsletter editor, and finance officer – at times in several positions all at once, as membership declined with time. 

He wrote a book of his wartime adventures in the CBI, titled, “A Light Trail,” which will eventually be available on Amazon. Dorothy passed away in 2021, but Lescher is survived by his children, Richard Dowling and Lela (Dowling) Cirocco; grandchildren Sara and Skye; great-grandchildren Katheryne, Kimberly, Brielli and Gianna; and numerous nieces and nephews. His wry humor, wisdom, helpful advice and stories from the old days, all will be greatly missed.

Lescher Dowling’s ashes will be scattered at sea off the coast of Santa Barbara.