Norval Kent Bowland Sr.

Norval Kent Bowland (Ken) of Johnstown, Colorado went home to be with the Lord on October 4, 2021. Ken was born on September 4, 1931, in Stratton, Nebraska to Walter Asa and Phebe Bowland. He served his country in United States Air Force during the Korean War.

Ken met the love of his life, Joanne Miller, at the drive-in where she worked as a car hop in Abilene, TX. They were married in Raton, NM on October 28, 1954. Together they raised four children and for a time some of their nieces and nephews.

Ken was a horse and cattleman as well as a gold card member of the PRCA, participating in saddle bronc, bare back, steer wrestling, calf roping and team roping. For a brief period, Ken and Joanne were a long-haul truck driving team. To most who knew him, he was a man who loved and lived the cowboy way of life. But more than anything else, Ken was a family man and a family patriarch who was deeply loved and honored for the integrity and stature of the man that we all knew him to be. Ken was a simple man who impacted the lives of many with an example of strength, courage, kindness, generosity, humor, and sincere love.

Ken is survived and remembered by many in his large close-knit family, including his daughter Carla and husband Jerry Carr and their children Lance Carr and Teresa Cralley and her husband Jason, son Randy Ivy and wife Carolyn and children Joshua Christopherson, twins Jason and Justin Ivy, Jennifer Bartlett and husband Hugh, Cameron Ivy and his wife Cambrilynn, Colton Ivy, Hunter Ivy, daughter Kelle and husband Jerry Kile and children Waco, Trey and Bailey Dreher and her husband Jaden, and daughter-in law Ruth Ann Bowland and children Kayla Crain and her husband Chris and Rease Bowland and wife Taylor, sisters Marie Cannady, Margie Stone and Ellen Kraich and her husband Delbert, sisters-in-law Betty Bowland, Alma Miller, Barbara Miller, and many great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. All of which held a special place in his heart.

Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Phebe, son Norval Kent Bowland Jr. (Kenny), brothers, Norris and wife, Elsie, Lyle, Lloyd and wife, Margaret, Norman Bowland, brothers-in-law JV Cannady, Vernon Stone, in-laws, James Leslie and Lena Miller, James Miller Jr., Dean and Loretta Miller, Donald Miller, Margie Spradling

The family has requested that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado or Spina Bifida Texas.