Jeanne Carol Dowell (Dec. 29, 1929 - June 15, 2025), had a life filled with boundless compassion and the unconditional love of animals. Seen here with her beloved (last) dog “Carley.”
Jeanne Carol Dowell, age 95, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 15, 2025. She was born Dec. 29, 1929 in Blue Island, Ill.. She graduated from Brighton High School in Rochester, New York in 1947, and attended College for Women in Virginia in 1948. She graduated from University of Arkansas in 1952 with a Bachelor’s degree in science and social welfare. After college, she worked as a social worker in Pasadena, Calif. Also after college, Jeanne married Dudley Dowell.
Jeanne, a self-proclaimed “yoga junkie,” read her first book on yoga as a fourth grader living in the Midwest. Although enticed by the subject matter, she didn’t take her first yoga class until she was a young mother in Orinda. She became a yoga teacher in her early 40s and was a pioneer in bringing yoga to the East Bay. Jeanne traveled to India and studied yoga directly under B.K.S. Iyengar and became an Iyengar teacher.
Jeanne went on to teach at the Orinda Community Center, the Moraga Hacienda, Rossmoor, Alta Bates Hospital, Mills College, convalescent homes and so many more places. She also worked under the U.S. Olympic Committee at Squaw Valley teaching yoga to the synchronized swim team from Heather Farms in Walnut Creek. She wrote her first book, “The Practice: Wisdom for Life and Healthy Aging.” In addition, Jeanne founded her gratitude-based company, Green Buddha, with her daughter Dana.
Jeanne is survived by her three children, Duke, David and Dana, and five grandchildren, Mason, Parker, Will, Zachary and Douglas. She was blessed to have two daughter-in-laws, Linda Dowell and Deanna Dowell, and one son-in-law, Andrew Graham.
Family, friends and others whose lives Jeanne touched, were invited to her service on July 10 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Orinda. The reception followed at the family home.
