Pamela Lee (Cochran) McDowell

Pamela Lee (Cochran) McDowell

Early Life

Born September 15, 1968, Pamela was the second daughter of John and Peggy Cochran. She went on to marry Richard McDowell in 1991.

 

Fun Fact: When her and Rick were around the age of 5, both of their sisters (Cindy and Lora) arranged a small wedding behind their church, where Rick gave her a pop tab as a ring. Pamela kept the pop tab and had it encased in acrylic. She currently keeps it on her nightstand.

Acting Career

Pamela is credited as an extra in several films such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret of the Ooze which she can be seen in the background of the club scene alongside the likes of Vanilla Ice (Pictured Right)

 

Fun Fact: Pamela received an invitation to Vanilla Ice’s birthday but did not attend.

Extra Work

Pamela was involved as an extra in several movies listed below:

-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 The Secret of the Ooze

-Weekend at Bernie’s

-Sleeping with the enemy

-The Exorcist 3 (Pictured Right)

-Alan & Naomi

-Betsy’s Wedding

 

Leading Roles

Pamela was also a lead actor in some smaller films and Projects listed below:

-Learning to fly (Generation Courage Production Company, unpublished)

-TCT tv. commercial reenactment 

Education, Teaching and Administration

 

Education

During Pamela’s college education, she attained an associate in business. She also attained the rank of 4^th degree blackbelt in Karate with a focus on Taekwondo techniques.

Administration

Pamela and her husband Rick ran the Lighthouse motel for a time before it was eventually sold, and they relocated back to Defiance Ohio where they owned and operated Defiance Christian Martial Arts. Once her son Caleb started school Pam would work part time in the “Lion’s Den” which was an afterschool program at St. John Lutheran School where she would bookkeep and perform administrative tasks for the school.

Teaching

Later after the family relocated to South Carolina, Pamela would work as a substitute teacher for Mullins Marion Christian School for the 4^th Grade class. 

Video Contests

Pamela later became interested video editing and production for online contests. She was successful in her efforts, winning prizes like an Artist edition HP laptop (Pictured Right) as well as a “Flip video camcorder”
she also won various sums of money. Her videos often featured her husband Rick and their airplane. Pamela did start a company for her productions titled CPR Productions which was stood for “Caleb, Pam, and Rick”. Their YouTube channel (Buckeye196899) still contains these videos as of writing. Link: https://www.youtube.com/@buckeye196899

 

Fun Fact: Pictured right you can see a snapshot from their Louisiana Hot Sauce video where Rick portrayed a pirate that had traveled to find the “Real” buried treasure which was a bottle of “Louisiana Hot Sauce” (Pictured Right).

Pam’s Cars

 

Although she’s had many cars over the years, here is a list of some noteworthy ones:

 

Mazda RX7

Porsche 924S

 

Corolla S

 

Porsche Boxster

 

Mustang Convertible

 

Fun Fact: on a drive while living in California, Rick drove Pam’s Porsche 924S through a puddle of standing water and hydro locked the engine the couple recalls “as if to add insult to injury, a Honda Civic drove through the puddle immediately after.”

Richard (Rick) Edward McDowell

Richard (Rick) Edward McDowell

Early Life and Military Service

Rick, the middle child of Alice and Rich, was born on December 25, 1968. He went on to marry Pamela (Cochran) McDowell in 1991 while serving in the Marine Corps where he specialized in avionics. Rick and Pam’s wedding can be seen (Pictured Below). The couple would later have one son, Caleb, on May 22, 1998

Fun Fact: Rick was a certified scuba diver at the age of 15 and initially planned on becoming a marine biologist. 

Postal Career and Karate School

Rick worked as a carrier for the United States Postal Service in Defiance Ohio before moving his family to South Carolina for advancement opportunity. During his time in Defiance, he also owned and operated Defiance Christian Martial Arts with his wife Pam. After their move to SC, he worked in Marion County under Tommy Pelham whom he would operate as his 204B until he was accepted for a position as Postmaster in Bennettsville SC where he remained until retirement in October 2022.

Civil Air Patrol and Private Piloting

Rick received his pilot’s license prior to moving to South Carolina and maintained a membership with the
Marion County civil air patrol chapter until he moved to Bennettsville. Rick owned and maintained several airplanes during his time as a pilot, the first being a kit plane that he owned and worked on in Ohio, he later sold that plane and bought a Grumman lynx (Pictured Right), and later a Grumman Traveler. Rick decided not to continue his piloting career after a close call with a bird strike above Cheraw, SC, after

which, he repaired and sold his Grumman Traveler (Tail Number N1321R). His plane can be seen in Hartsville, SC (Pictured Right).

Post Retirement

After Retirement, Rick and his wife Pam, remained in Bennettsville, acquiring the land that they call “ODT Acres”, a reference to Peggy Cochran who was known for the phrase “One Day at a Time” which they abbreviated to “ODT”.

 

Rick and his wife spent much of their retirement fishing, hunting, and building structures on their property. The couple can be seen seated on the foundation of their first small cabin at ODT Acres which was constructed almost exclusively with native lumber that they milled on their sawmill. (Pictured Right).

Ricks Cars

 

Being that both his father and father in-law both worked at General Motors, Rick gravitated to Chevrolet and Pontiac vehicles. Below is a notable, however not fully inclusive, list of some of the cars he’s owned over the years.

 

1975 Camaro

            Rick initially had a 1975 Camaro as his first car. 1975 Camaro can be seen (Pictured Right)

 

 

1968 Firebird

            Rick traded his 75 Camaro back to his parents in exchange for their 68 Firebird. He painted this car several times until he finally painted it blue before selling it.

Fun Fact: Rick credits his hatred of the blue paint job for why he sold this car, and why he refuses to paint any car blue.

 

1986 Firebird

            Rick later purchased a base model 86 Firebird which he had until a trip to Florida where he got into a car accident and totaled it.

Fun Fact: The trip to Florida was a 20-hour drive, the flight back only took 8 hours.

 

 

Fiero Ferrari Kit Car

            While on base in California, Rick and Pam worked on a Ferrari Kit car. The couple documented their experience in a VHS which they would later rediscover when going through John and Peg’s things.

 

 

 

V8 swapped Fiero

            The initial plan with this was to do a Lamborghini kit car after the swap; however, their plans changed after the swap.

 

 

 

 

1996 Chevrolet K1500 Z71

            Rick purchased this truck around the time that his son was born, and used it to plow snow in Defiance, Ohio. He kept it until around the time he retired, after which he sold it due to rust in the cab from road salt. 

The McDowell Family Combined Chronology

The McDowell Family Combined Chronology

The McDowell Children

Lora:

Lora (McDowell) Graziani is the firstborn of the McDowell Family and has two children Erica and Brock. Lora can be seen in the left of the photo (Pictured Right).

Rick:

Rick (Richard) McDowell is the middle child of the McDowell Family and has one child named Caleb. Rick can be seen to the furthest right of the photo (Pictured Right).

Adam:

Adam McDowell is the youngest of the McDowell Family and has one child named Jared. Adam can be seen to the left of the photo (Pictured Right).

Although the family moved a few times, the bulk of the three children’s childhood was spent in their Defiance home.

Fun Fact: Rick and Adam once attempted to make a submarine in their pond from Plywood and plexiglass. Scarily they were mildly successful.

The Singing McDowells/The McDowell Family

The family gospel group went by a few names over the years, but initially was started by Alice and Rich along with their children. The traveled from church to church playing music and sharing their testimony along the way.

 

Later, Alice and Rich would step back into a support role in the group when their son Rick took over the group and renamed it from “The McDowell Family” to “The Singing McDowells” This change reflected the new group dynamic that consisted of more than just immediate family members. Rick can be seen posing for a picture in the newspaper with the new group (Pictured Right).

Fun Fact: in the original publication, the authors incorrectly labeled Caleb as “Karen”

In addition to the new name, Rick also introduced newly self-written and published songs into the group’s roster of songs like “Heir Conditioned” and “Down in Georgia” which were often based on experiences that the group had on their travels. In particular, Down in Georgia was a parody of “The Devil was Down in Georgia” which he wrote after the group’s bus broke down in Georgia after a singing.

Alice McDowell

 

Alice McDowell

Alice McDowell was born to Rose and Burlin Strickland in Pike County Ohio. She married Rich (Ed) McDowell on Sep 4, 1964.

Alice worked as a registered nurse until her retirement.

Nursing Career

Alice McDowell graduated as an RN from Northwest State in the class of 1992. She primarily worked in the maternity ward of the Defiance Regional hospital, assisting with the delivery of newborn babies. She enjoyed her job and the ability to help bring new life into the world. Alice also worked as head nurse at the nursing home and managed other nurses for a time.

The McDowell Family

Alice was one of the main vocalists of the McDowell Family group and remained in this position when Rick (her son) continued the group. She can be seen performing alongside her husband Rich during one of the group’s later gigs (Pictured Right).

Alice’s voice was part of the singing group’s identity, often being noted that it was a characteristically deeper tone that was impactful, yet elegant. One of her favorite songs to sing is “I wanna to know how it feels”.

 

Fun Fact: Once while visiting St. Louis gateway arch, Alice set off the metal detectors due to a titanium screw in her back from a prior back surgery.

Hobbies

Alice loves quilting and did so frequently with her mother. In the image to the right Alice’s Mother, Rose, can be seen with one of their many quilts (Pictured Right). Alice liked to make day trips with her mother
frequently and would often cite that her mother was running her until she was tired. The two would frequently work late into the night on quilts in Alice’s basement. She would often visit and spend time with her father Burlin with Rose when both were alive (Pictured Below).

Return to Lucasville

Alice later purchased a home in Lucasville on the river, not far from where the couple had previously owned property that Rich’s father stayed in. Alice and Rich travel between homes as they still own their property in Defiance. 

Edwin (Ed) Richard McDowell

 

Edwin (Ed) Richard McDowell

Commonly referred to as “Ed” or “Rich”, Rich was born in southern Ohio in Pike County to Edwin and Helen (Smith) McDowell. Ed also had a sibling named Tom who passed away in 2014.

Early Life

Born in Pike County OH, He went on to marry Alice McDowell and live in Pike for a time. When the GM Foundry in Defiance OH opened, the couple moved to Defiance for employment. Rich and Alice went on to have three children: Lora, Rick, and Adam.

One of the couple’s properties, a Lucasville home can be seen on the edge of the Scioto River, Alice once stated that the basement of the house would flood when the river was up, and that she could hear the water at night (Pictured Right). This house was purchased on behalf of Rich’s father so that he would have a place to stay in his elderly years.

 

Fun Fact: When he was 17, Rich attempted to register for the draft. During this attempt he discovered that he was 17 and not 18 as he had previously thought.

The Singing McDowells

During his working life, he brought his family together for musical gigs at churches where they were known as “The McDowell Family”. Over the years they performed at many churches and even maintained their own private bus for transporting their equipment. The group also produced several records (Pictured Right) and saw good success in the Northwest Ohio region. This group name was later modified by his son Rick who later continued the family band as “The Singing McDowells”.

GM Electrician

During his time at the GM Foundry, Rich worked as an Electrician. He maintained critical equipment for the foundry that included different types of pouring equipment and line controls.

Rich’s Car Collection
During his employment he also came into possession of two Bremen Motorsports factory-built kit cars, the “Mini Mark” and the “Maxi Taxi” of which he has made multiple road trips in and often takes to car shows. In the picture to the Right, Rich can be seen with Rick, his son, and their kit cars (Pictured Right).

He also later came into possession of his 1978 25^th Anniversary edition corvette which he worked on until parking and later gifting to his grandson Caleb McDowell (Pictured Right).

Fun Fact: For Rich’s birthday, his family all chipped in for a NASCAR car ride trip in which suited up and rode around the track (Pictured Above Left).

Post GM Retirement Work and Current Home

Rich worked after his GM retirement as a bus driver for the local rest home. He would also perform musical shows at the rest home, often these shows would include comedic elements such as his famous Elvis Presley Impersonation.

Rich currently resides in Defiance Ohio at the family home (Pictured Right), he enjoys fishing and traveling with Alice McDowell.