60 cars participate in birthday parade for 100-year-old Cary veteran

McDowell, a resident of Woodland Terrace in Cary, sat outside the front doors of his assisted living facility at 10 a.m. as a 60-car parade of friends and family passed by.

Since McDowell has been forced to limited his interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic, his visitors spoke to him through a headset from their cars, each able to leave him a special birthday message from a safe distance.

Susan Clemmer, who met McDowell in a Bible Study group, said he was "the glue" that kept the group together.

"Clyde is a precious man," Clemmer said. "He learned how to use a computer in his 80s, so he managed the communications for our class. Anyone who knows Clyde would say that he is the sweetest man in the world!"

McDowell joined the Navy in 1942 after Pearl Harbor and served time in Charleston and Savannah. He worked at Sears in Raleigh upon returning home and is a lifelong member of the Iron Dukes, the fundraising arm for Duke Athletics. He is active in the Coast Guard Auxiliary of Durham and his local Kiwanis club.

McDowell has three children -- a daughter and two sons -- one who traveled to the Triangle from Charleston for the birthday celebration.

Friends say he has remained active and loved learning how to use a computer and teach others.

He enjoys baking sourdough bread, scones and tomato pie with vegetables from his own garden, which he would give away to neighbors, friends, and his Sunday School class at Edenton Street United Methodist Church before COVID-19.

Friends, family, fellow Kiwanis members and others he met though decades of volunteer work showed up for Monday's parade.

Happy birthday Mr. Clyde!