[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 4574-4575]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JAMES C. DOWDLE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. FRED UPTON

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 14, 2014

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, on February 17th, we lost an extraordinary 
American with the passing of James C. Dowdle, who was 79. I rise today 
to do something a bit out of character. As many folks know, I am a 
proud University of Michigan Wolverine. Jim, on the other hand, was a 
Notre Dame grad. In the Midwest, the Wolverines and Fighting Irish mix, 
at least in athletics, about as well as the Hatfields and McCoys. In 
fact, Jim was a physically gifted athlete who played basketball for the 
Irish. It takes a special individual for me to put aside a rivalry that 
runs that deep. Jim Dowdle was that unique.
  I got to know Jim on a professional level. He was hired by Tribune 
Company in Chicago in the early 1980s to head its broadcast operations 
until his retirement in 1999. Tribune Company remains the largest media 
company headquartered in the Midwest. Of particular interest to me, Jim 
engineered the Tribune's purchase of the Chicago Cubs from the

[[Page 4575]]

Wrigley family. As a lifelong, diehard Cubs fan, Jim and I agonized 
over the team's progress many an afternoon at Wrigley Field. Jim also 
persuaded legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray to be the 
Cubs' play-by-play announcer on Tribune's WGN-TV. That powerful 
combination spread WGN's telecasts throughout the land as cable systems 
and home satellites grew WGN into a national superstation. What makes 
the story even more remarkable is that Jim was a proud Irish-American 
son of Chicago's Southside, that sliver of greater Chicagoland where 
your allegiance is to the White Sox and whatever team is playing the 
Cubs. Jim used to say, ``Thank God my father is buried in Calvary 
Cemetery. If he knew I bought the Cubs, I'm not sure he would talk to 
me.'' Over the years, Jim gambled on the future of television--
investing in little-known cable channels such as the Food Network and 
others, adding to Tribune's broadcast station holdings, the value of 
which is now in the billions.
  Jim Dowdle's family and civic legacy is just as remarkable. He 
married his beloved Sally Sayers in 1956 shortly after graduating from 
Notre Dame. To all, they are known as Honey and Doods. He was the 
father of five and grandfather of eighteen. At his funeral Mass, nine 
handsome grandsons, all at least six foot two, dressed in suits and 
Kelly green ties, served as pallbearers. At the altar, two Catholic 
monsignors, twelve priests and his godson (a deacon) celebrated his 
Mass before as many as 1,500 mourners--a powerful, visible testament to 
a life well led.
  Long before I got to know him, Jim had conquered alcohol addiction. 
For decades, he counseled countless others, often complete strangers. 
When the word spread that Jim was nearing death, the family received 
numerous calls and messages from people who wanted them to know how Jim 
Dowdle had impacted them--saving careers, marriages, and lives. Without 
those unsolicited testimonials, no one would have known.
  A former Marine lieutenant, years later, Jim received the Marine 
Corps' Semper Fidelis Award. He also received the broadcast industry's 
highest honor, the National Association of Broadcasters' Distinguished 
Service Award, as well as the National Academy of Television Arts and 
Sciences' Trustee Award and induction into the Broadcasting and Cable 
Hall of Fame. A devout Catholic, Jim was a director of Mundelein 
Seminary's Board of Advisors and Big Shoulders Fund. He served as a 
former board chairman of Junior Achievement of Chicago, director of 
Loyola University's Health Systems, director of Robert R. McCormick 
Foundation, director of Hazelden Chicago, and trustee of Chicago's 
Museum of Science and Industry. I mention these. There are more.
  Throughout his remarkable life, Jim Dowdle never lost the common 
touch. He stayed humble. He volunteered. He served. He gave. He never 
forgot what is truly important in life. I think the Marine's motto 
aptly describes the great man: ``Semper Fidelis!'' Always Faithful! It 
was my great privilege to know him and my honor to pay tribute. God 
bless Jim Dowdle.

                          ____________________