Former Monmouth County Republican Chairman and NJ State Assemblyman William F. “Bill” Dowd, of Long Branch, died peacefully on April 21. He was 74.
Services are slated to begin today, April 26, with a viewing from 5 to 7 p.m. at Woolley Bogioli Funeral Home, Long Branch and culminating in a funeral on Friday at 10 am at Our Lady Star of the Sea RC Church, Second and Chelsea avenues, Long Branch.
William Dowd Photo/Dowd family via Woolley Bogioli Funeral Home
Born Nov. 11, 1943, Bill graduated from Our Lady Star of the Sea, Red Bank Catholic, Seton Hall University and Rutgers Law School. At “the Hall,” Bill was voted “1966 Man of the Year,” president of his senior class and captain of the Ulysses A. Bramson Debating Team.
He was instrumental in William F. Buckley Jr.’s decision to give the Seton Hall commencement address in 1966. They maintained a close friendship for four decades. Bill also represented Rutgers Law School in the National Moot Court Contest.
He was a member of the NJ and NY State Bar associations, and clerked for Judge Coleman and Sen. Stout.
Bill went on to serve as assistant to U.S. Treasury Secretary David Kennedy, and wrote speeches as a staff assistant in the Nixon White House. He was the Republican candidate for Congress in 1970 and 1972, and Parliamentarian of the NJ State Assembly, where he served two terms (1978-1981). He was Monmouth County Republican Chairman for 18 years (1986-2004).
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