Agnes Marie Dowsett, longtime Valley Stream resident, dies at 95

Agnes Marie Dowsett a resident of Valley Stream for more than 70 years, died on Aug. 8 at her daughter’s home in Bethesda, Md. She was 95.

Born on Aug. 25, 1924 in Manhattan, Dowsett was the daughter of Frank and Anna Koudelka. She is predeceased by her husband Harry Dowsett, whom she married on Aug. 19, 1944, while he was serving in the U.S. Navy.

Dowsett was known to love Valley Stream, where she had lived with her husband on North Corona Avenue in the home she and her husband purchased in 1948 and renovated themselves. Together they raised four children, and Dowsett worked as a dental assistant for Dr. Frank Korowitz, through which she accumulated a broad network of friends from both Valley Stream and the surrounding neighborhoods.

In 2004 she moved into the Monica Village Senior Housing apartments, where she played bingo and took part in community activities with friends there while maintaining a voracious reading habit. Dowsett was an active member of the Blessed Sacrament Church parish community and attended St. Mary’s in more recent years.

She was known to be a loving person with a memorable sense of humor and pragmatic spirit in the face of challenge, touching everyone she met over the years and during her travels, according to family members. Dowsett was also known to keep in touch by phone and email with her children, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren and great-grandchildren spread across the United State and in Switzerland. A trip to visit her meant stopping by Mitchell’s Restaurant or Itgen’s ice cream parlor on Rockaway Avenue for a treat.

In addition to her husband, Dowsett is predeceased by daughters Althea Krentsa and Lorraine Antonucci. She is survived by her daughter Donna Marie Dowsett-Coirolo and Harry James Dowsett; 13 grand children and eight great-grandchildren. She was buried at Calverton National Cemetery, and leaves warm and lasting memories in the hearts of family and the loved ones she touched through her lifetime.