Mary Ellen (Blaker) Bowden

Our beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Mary Ellen Blaker Bowden passed away peacefully on July 22, 2024, after a short illness while in Hospice Home Care in Matthews, NC. She was 86. Although we grieve our loss, we know she is no longer in pain, has seen the face of God, walked with Jesus, hugged her beloved Freddie, and they are once again in the same choir with her beautiful soprano joining his handsome baritone singing praises to our Lord.

Mary was born in West Virginia on September 5, 1937. She married the love of her life, Freddie Gene Bowden, on July 31, 1955. A few years later they moved to Virginia where they raised three children, and happily worked together in their businesses in Newport News, Williamsburg, and Keysville until his death. She later moved to Mint Hill, North Carolina where she resided until her death.

Mary was the heart of her family and home. She loved to cook for her family and had a well-deserved reputation as an exceptional and adventurous cook. She is survived by her three children: Larry Gene Bowden, Sue Ellen (Bowden) Greene and her husband Paul Russell Greene, and Joel Paul Bowden; four grandchildren: Benjamin Thomas Greene and his wife Jennifer Leigh (Oldenburg) Greene, and Melissa Ellen (Greene) Turney and her husband Brian Charles Turney; six great grandchildren: Ashley Carolyn (Nibbana) Weaver and her husband Tyler William Weaver, Daniel Thomas Greene, Charles Paul Turney, Zoie Ellen Turney, and Henry James Turney.

She was preceded in death by her husband Freddie Gene Bowden; her parents: Harry G. Blaker and Maude C. Blaker; and her siblings: Harry, Connie, Eddie, Donald, Gene, Albert, and Tom.

The family will gather for a Celebration of Life and internment of ashes beside her beloved Freddie in Virginia at a future date.