Verne W. Dowers, 74, of 1356 N. Cherry St. died at 1:42 a.m. Monday, April 20, 1998, at Rosewood Care Center of Galesburg, Illinois.

Born May 15, 1923, in Farnam, Nebraska to Lee O. and Bertha O. Way Dowers, he married Marcella Young on June 29, 1944, in Galesburg. She survives.

Also surviving are two sons, Tim and John, both of Galesburg; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by one brother.

A graduate of the University of Nebraska in Kearney, Neb., he had been a Galesburg resident since 1953. For 30 years, he was a partner in White's Roofing (later Dower's Roofing) and retired as president in 1988. A World War II Army Medical Corps veteran, he served in the Philippines.

Active in Scouting, he served as president of the Prairie Council for five years.

A member of the Noon Rotary Club, he was a former president and a Paul Harris Fellow, and was awarded the Clarendon Van Norman Award. He received the Boss of the Year award from the Jaycees.

He was a member of First United Methodist Church, where he was a Sunday school teacher and served on the administrative board.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at his church. The Rev. Robert Snider will officiate. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Hinchliff-Pearson-West Galesburg Chapel. Burial will be in Oak Lawn Memorial Gardens, where military rites will be accorded by American Legion Post 285. Memorials may be made to his church or the Community Hospices of America.