Polly R. Warner Dowling, beloved wife of Arthur L. Dowling for almost 60 years, died after a brief illness on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2000. in Newark, DE, where she had been visiting her youngest daughter.

A resident of Houston for 30 years, Mrs. Dowling was born on Jan. 8, 1919 in Brooklyn, NY. She lived on the North Shore of Long Island in Great Neck and Manhasset before moving to Texas. She attended Great Neck public schools and graduated in 1940 from Duke University where she was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. After graduating, in keeping with the times, she entered secretarial school to become a legal secretary.

In 1941, she married Ensign Arthur L. Dowling. During World War II, while caring for their two infant daughters, Mrs. Dowling also assumed acting guardianship for her orphaned teenage brother-in-law. She was on her own again, when her husband was recalled to active duty during the Korean War.

Mrs. Dowling had long been active in the Episcopal Church - in Christ Episcopal Church in Manhasset and All Saints Episcopal Church in Great Neck and, more recently, was proud to have been a member for 14 years of the Altar Guild at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston.

In Houston, she was a strong supporter of the Blue Bird Circle, serving as a major committee chairman for many years and she was a member of the Daughters of the Cincinnati, the Tanglewood Garden Club and the AY Chapter of PEO.

The Daughters of the American Revolution was a major interest. She had been Regent of the North Riding Chapter on Long Island and was a member of the Lady Washington Chapter in Houston.

Her sorority sisters in Houston opened many doors of friendship. Mrs. Dowling will be remembered by friends for her love of social ballroom dancing and of duplicate and rubber bridge, which she played to be with friends.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Dowling is survived by her daughters Cynthia Tanner of Duluth, GA, and Louise Roselle of Newark, DE, and four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at St. Martin's Episcopal Church on Sage Road in Houston. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to charity.