Dowling Family Honored by San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society

At the June 4 Cherry Festival parade, John Dowling sat on his bright blue 1965 Ford 4400 tractor, the centerpiece of the San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society’s parade entry, as the float traveled down Beaumont Ave. pulled by Dowling’s son, James Dowling, driving his restored 1967 Ford F600.

Folks watching along the parade route shouted their appreciation of the Dowling family and their longtime local produce business.

“I was getting a little teary-eyed. They were saying ‘We love you guys’ and ‘We miss you,’” said Dowling of the crowd’s gratitude. “It felt really good.”

Dowling’s family has lived in Beaumont and Cherry Valley for four generations; the family first arrived here in the early 1900s and established fruit orchards, which became a century-long family enterprise. On Nov. 30, 2021, Dowling and his wife, Shelly, retired and closed the Dowling Orchard business and its popular produce stand on Hwy. 60, which catered to both locals and highway travelers for 69 years.

The San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society honored the Dowling family for more than 100 years of service to the community during the 2022 Beaumont Cherry Festival with the float depicting a Dowling cherry orchard being tilled by the vintage tractor, which won first place in the civic organization division.

The society also paid tribute to the family with vintage Dowling photographs going back generations as part of the society’s history exhibit on display at the four-day festival. At the historical society’s June 9 meeting, the program included a visual history of the family, and the float’s first-place trophy was presented to John and Shelly.

“The Dowling and Stower families were foundational in the very earliest days of Beaumont before it was even officially a city,” says San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society President John McLaughlin. “Over the years, the Dowling family has been an example of hard work and good business, and they have also generously supported the community and countless organizations with their philanthropy and care for the area over many, many decades.

“The historical society was very pleased to honor John and Shelly Dowling during Cherry Festival and to remember the generations within the family that came before and contributed so much to the pass.”

About 1907, John’s great-grandfather, Alexander Campbell Stower, came to the area and bought land to plant fruit trees. In 1922, Stower’s daughter, Iola, married a horticulturist from Orange County, Francis Dowling Sr. The young couple bought property at Palm Ave. and 14th St., planted their own grove and originally named the business Golden State Cherry Orchard. Their daughter, Ruth Mary Dowling Beal, recently recalled painting a sign that read “Golden State Cherry Orchard two blocks Dowling and Dowling,” which she said elicited a good laugh, because it was supposed to say, “two blocks ahead.”

Iola was a 1917 Beaumont High School graduate, earned a degree in education at University of Redlands and taught generations of local students.

Their son, Francis Dowling Jr., was also a Beaumont High graduate, served in the U.S. Navy and earned a horticultural science degree at UCLA in 1950. Francis Jr. and his wife, Estella, added to the business with 60 acres purchased on Hwy. 60 on the west side of town, and they opened the popular Dowling Orchard store there in 1952. Estella’s favorite endeavor was their pumpkin patch and the joy it brought to kids in the fall.

The couple’s son, John, continued the family’s business and philanthropy—over the many years, the Dowlings generously donated produce, time and resources to charitable organizations and churches for events and fundraisers.

John was also honored this year with the Cherry Festival Association’s Heritage Award, a recognition his father received twice before.

“Dowling Orchard was a family business, and we considered our employees family,” said John. “We have always been grateful for the community’s support, and I will really miss seeing and talking to our customers. They are the reason we were able to operate for so many years.”

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