April 06 1991
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Saturday, April 06, 1991
Merrill Dowden, former editor, chess columnist for C-J, dies
Merrill Dowden, retired Indiana editor and chess columnist for The Courier-Journal, died of pneumonia yesterday at Hillcreek Manor Nursing Home. He was 88.
Dowden was the newspaper's Indiana editor from 1945 until his retirement in 1967.
He worked for the old Louisville Herald-Post after graduating from the University of Kentucky, and he joined the C-J staff in 1926 as a police reporter. He also worked for the sports department, as a general-assignment reporter, features reporter and copy editor before becoming Indiana editor.
Dowden started his chess column, “The King's Men,” in 1945, and he continued to write it after his retirement. He also worked as a freelancer for various national publications, including Parade magazine.
Dowden helped reorganize the Louisville Chess Club in the mid-1940s, and he was a member of the Douglass Boulevard Chess Club, which was later renamed the Merrill Dowden Chess Club.
He was elected to the board of directors of the United States Chess Federation in 1947 and was Louisville's city chess champion in 1956.
Survivors include two sons, Donald S. Dowden of Islip, N.Y., and Carroll V. Dowden of Saddle River, N.J.; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
The funeral will be 10 a.m. Monday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 1960 Bardstown Road, with burial in Calvary Cemetery.
Visitation at Highlands Funeral Home, 3331 Taylorsville Road, is from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow.
The family requests that memorial gifts go to the church.
