Fallen city employee led life of redemption
Debris from Hurricane Harvey lined the streets surrounding East Haven funeral home, a stark reminder of the overpowering water that cost a city employee his life.
But family and friends of Joseph Dowell didn’t want to dwell on how he died but instead wanted his funeral Saturday to honor how he turned his life around — going from a Harris County inmate to a dedicated worker who lost his life driving to his job for the City of Houston.
“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been an employee. If you were an employee for one day, and you gave your life for this city, then your life has a lot of value,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said at the funeral.
Turner gathered Saturday with other elected officials, including Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Councilman Michael Kubosh, and family and friends to pay respects to the 43-year-old who died driving to work Aug. 27 during Hurricane Harvey.
Dowell called his supervisor with the Public Works Department when he hit high water. His boss told him to pull over at a nearby Whataburger, but Dowell insisted that he was close enough to walk to his job.
His body was found days later in a previously flooded wooded area at 3500 North Wayside.
On Saturday, a tiny funeral home was packed with rows of friends and family. Some wore red to honor Dowell’s favorite color.
His co-workers from Public Works sat near the front in their work uniform. They would eventually serve as pallbearers for their friend.
Those who helped Dowell transform from a drug user to a city employee, including members from the re-entry program sponsored by the city’s health department, came to mourn.
Gwen Bossett, who served as Dowell’s counselor at the re-entry program called Freedom Project for the Harris County Jail, was among those who couldn’t believe the man she helped was gone.
“As I sat there today and listened to the words, I couldn’t help and feel redemption, restoration, sacrifice,” said Jackson Lee, who announced that a flag on the U.S. Capitol had been raised to honor Dowell.
Turner named Saturday “Joseph Dowell Day.”
There were honors bestowed on a man who sat inside Harris County Jail last summer facing life in prison for a drug possession charge.
“In this criminal justice system, a lot of people that come here have a lack of hope, like you pushed in a corner,” Dowell said last summer inside the jail. “When you got hope, you can achieve; you can excel. When you lose hope, you lose reality of what’s important to you.”
Hope was given to Dowell when Judge Marc Carter decided last October to grant him five years probation.
He recognized how the man had changed during his time working with counselors at the re-entry program at the jail. Others also noticed the change in the man who had spent more than 20 years of his life in and out of jail.
Bossett noticed Dowell’s willingness to help others and desire to stay off drugs.
As people filled the room and honors were given, Bossett noted how touched Dowell would have been from all of the love and support.
“This was his dream. You guys are making his dream come true,” longtime friend Terrick Roberts told the crowd. brooke.lewis@chron.com twitter.com/brookelewisa