Jeanette Habit Dowd

   Jeanette Habit Dowd, 91, of Edenton, NC, passed away on Friday, February 8, 2019.

   Mrs. Dowd was born in Edenton on March 5, 1927, and was the daughter of the late John F. and Vivian C. Habit. A 1944 graduate of Edenton High School, she worked at Air Station Edenton as a clerk typist, met and married her husband, Lawrence M. “Larry” Dowd, a former sailor from Springfield, MA who was stationed in Edenton during World War II. Larry quickly adapted to life in the South, as Jeanette was not leaving Edenton.

   From the time she was six years old, living upstairs and working in her father’s grocery store at 203 N. Broad Street, Jeanette lived and worked her entire life on Edenton’s Broad Street. She served her community’s citizens in a number of businesses for 86 years. Beginning in Habit’s Grocery, which was the first self-service grocery store in town, to later working in her current business as the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicle’s License Plate Agency, located at 810 N. Broad Street. In between, she operated the Triangle Restaurant at 801 N. Broad Street, where many town folk can claim their first work experience.

   In 1969, her husband died leaving her a single mother of four children, all under 19 years of age. It was not an easy task, but as a single, working mother, she successfully raised and educated all her children teaching them sound values, and instilling in them her strong work ethic, and her independent spirit.

   Surviving are her children; daughter and devoted caregiver for the last 44 days, Kathy Crooke (husband Jim) of Raleigh, John Dowd (Lorraine), and Mike Dowd (wife Sherry), all of Edenton, and Tim Dowd (wife Kaye) of Rocky Mount; two brothers, Frank Habit (wife Marjorie) of Raleigh, and Jack Habit (wife Dot) of Edenton; nine grandchildren, Jennifer Crooke Allen (husband Brian), Laura Elizabeth Dowd, Michael Crooke (Mara), Eric Dowd (wife Caroline), Michael Dowd II (wife Nikki), Mary Katherine Dowd Wrenn (husband Josh), Travis Ellis (wife Christy), Heath Ellis, and Dane Ellis (wife Holly); and nine great-grandchildren, Braxton, Hudson, Ellison, Marisa, Morgan, Lincoln, Spencer, Jack, and Ashton.

   A funeral mass will be held Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. in St. Anne Catholic Church. The burial will be in Beaver Hill Cemetery. Friends are invited to join the family Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. in Miller Funeral Home & Crematory, 735 Virginia Road, Edenton, or in the Parish Hall of the church immediately following the service on Tuesday.

   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Anne Catholic Church, P.O. Box 422, Edenton, NC 27932.

   Online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.