Margaret “Maggie” E. Dowd, age 81, of Portage, MI passed away November 15, 2023 at the Heritage Community Assisted Living facility in Kalamazoo, MI. Maggie was born December 11, 1941 in Mendota, IL, the second daughter of the Charles F. Hendrick and Nina A. (Wicks) Hendrick. She received her BA degree from DePauw University in 1963, and her MA degree in French literature from Northwestern University in 1965. Following graduation Maggie worked as a legal secretary and French translator at an international law firm in Chicago. On August 15, 1964 she married Allen Jefferson Dowd in Mendota, IL. Maggie was an English and French teacher at Schoolcraft High School, Schoolcraft, MI for 28 years, retiring in 2008. She loved teaching and her wish was to have a meaningful impact on her students. Maggie was a six-time recipient of the Excellence in Education – Significant Educator Award, and received the Alfons Wier Memorial Award for Teaching. During her teaching career, she led many student groups to France and Quebec, Canada. She enjoyed gardening, collecting Indian artifacts, tutoring French, raising her beloved Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties), and she especially loved being with her family. Maggie had a long-standing interest in genealogy and spent much of her spare time in later years researching her family genealogy. She was a member of several Genealogical Societies, including the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America. Maggie’s kind, patient and loving nature will be greatly missed by her family, whom she doted on unconditionally. Surviving Maggie are her husband of 59 years, Allen, a son Eric Dowd and daughter-in law Eiman Gafour of Chicago, IL, and three grandchildren, Alan, Marcus and Naomi Dowd. Also surviving is her sister, Mary Schlesinger of Midland, MI, a niece, Sandra Schlesinger and her husband, Curtis Putzig and their children, two nephews, Randall Schlesinger of Chicago, IL and Scot Schlesinger of East Lansing, MI, and their children. Three cousins also survive.