Mark Bowman Jr.

Mark Bowman, 93, passed away in Denver, Colorado on December 9, 2016. He was born on February 19, 1923, in Johnson City, Tennessee, being the eldest son of Mark McKinley Bowman, Sr. and Margaret Clark Bowman. He was predeceased by the love and light of his life, Patricia Harley Bowman, his parents, and his dearest friend, younger brother Joseph Bowman. He is survived by his immediate family (all of whom knew him under the honorary title of “Pater”) that include his daughter, Patricia Bowman Thompson, and her husband, Robert S. Thompson, III, three grandchildren, Christian P. Thompson, Elizabeth H. Tipton, and her husband Joshua Tipton, and Robert S. Thompson, IV, and his wife Lidiana Rios, and two great-grandchildren, Bella Tipton and Lily Tipton. He is also survived by Joe Bowman’s children, Mark M. Bowman, III, and his wife Charlene Bowman, and Jan Bowman, and members of his beloved wife’s family. His guidance, no nonsense approach to life, spirituality, and practical nature will be sorely missed by all of those he raised, helped raise, advised, and directed.

Pater, in addition to his many vocations and avocations, was a chef of more than capable scale. He acquired this interest when he, due to health issues springing from him being a less than two pound premature birth, became the cook for his Boy Scout Troop, a role he occupied throughout his tenure with the Boy Scouts and one much appreciated by his fellow Scouts.

Pater’s real focus was without doubt, however, science and engineering. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Material Engineering from the University of Houston, while also dappling in acting, other performance arts, and teaching. He began work on his Doctorate in Engineering but opted to instead serve his Country as a Research Scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. From there he pursed a long and fruitful career with Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, while there gaining at least two patents in his own right and acting as a contributor to numerous other innovations and patents. These leanings likely also fit well with his devotion to the Masonic Order, where he achieved the status of the Thirty-Third Degree and was selected as the Worshipful Master of his Lodge.

Adding to his contributions as a Mason, Pater was always quick to give and serve. His allegiances knew no real bounds, spreading over Christian and Jewish religious studies and instruction, contributing time and money to the residents and staff of Brookdale Tamarac Square in Denver, and to just about anyone or any project that sought to achieve a worthwhile goal.

Pater will be laid to rest on January 7, 2017, at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston, Texas, next to his wife, Patricia, his parents, Mark and Margaret, and brother, Joe. The family will thus remain as it always was, close and supportive.

In lieu of flowers, Pater’s family asks that contributions be made to either the Boy Scouts of America or the COPD Foundation.