Jack Eugene Bowden, age 83, died July 31st, 2019, with family at Hospice in Bloomington, Indiana. He was born in Nashville, Indiana, the son of Ray and Lena Brown Bowden.
Jack was a man of faith and was always a very active member of his church community. His greatest joy in the church was serving the youth, and he was widely known as “the candy man” or “Papaw Jack”. He was most recently a member at Northside Christian Church, where he once served as an elder. He previously served at Cincinnati Christian Church, Nashville Christian Church, and Ellettsville Christian Church. He also served on the Board of Directors at Hilltop Christian Camp in Brown County for several years.
Jack had a servant’s heart and was very active outside of the church as well. He is a veteran of the United States Army. He served on the Monroe County Fair Board. He worked for Cummins and retired from Allison Transmission. After retirement he went on to work and volunteer at Bloomington Hospital and worked at Harrington’s Saw Shop. Jack had a true love for people and could often be found sitting on a bench at Walmart just waiting to talk.
Jack is survived by his wife, Wanda McCoy, married on November 23rd, 1960 at their home in Morgantown, IN. His sisters, Barbara (Max) Skinner of Lake City, Florida, Susie (John) Hundley of Columbus, Connie (Charlie) Leffler of Okeechobee, Florida, and Rachel (Dick) Oyer of Lake Worth, Florida. His children Dennis Bowden of South Carolina, Deborah Norman of South Carolina, Wanita Sue Clark of Bloomington, and Becky Bowden Kerr of Bloomington. His grandchildren Katherine Stevens, Robert Prine Jr., Kelly Glynn, Karah Raymond, Dustin Harmon, Josh Byers, David Edwards, Jessica Brown, Jamie Hancock, and many great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, James and Laura Bowden, Charles and Lottie Brown, brothers, James Ray Bowden of Arlington, TX, Billie Lee Bowden of Anaheim, CA and an infant brother, Gerald Allen Bowden. And a daughter, Marshiela Norman-Bailey of Bloomington.
Visitation will be from 9:00 am- 11:00am on Saturday, August 10th, 2019 at Day & Deremiah-Fry Funeral Home, 4150 E 3rd Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47401. Funeral services will be at 11:00 am on Saturday, August 10th, 2019 at Day & Deremiah-Fry Funeral Home with burial to follow at Valhalla Memory Gardens.
In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to Hilltop Christian Camp in Brown County.
