Freda Lavera Bowden

Freda Lavera (Briant) Bowden was born on March 22, 1925, the first child of Claude Elton and Fay (Marken) Briant in Matheson, CO. She passed peacefully into the arms of her Savior on Saturday, January 12th, 2019 at Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Shawnee Mission, KS. Services will take place Thursday, January 17, at McGilley & Hoge Chapel, 8024 Santa Fe Drive, Overland Park, KS, 66204. Visitation will be at 10am followed by the Celebration of Life at 11am. The burial will be at 3:30pm in Pleasant Ridge Cemetery which is in a rural area five miles north of Admire, KS. The burial ceremony is also open to the public.

Freda is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Joyce and Brian Hancock of Olathe, KS; her son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Grace Bowden of Ft. Worth, TX; five grandchildren: Sarah (Hancock) Abu Zareefeh and husband Abbaas of Mission, KS; Drew Bowden and wife Michelle of Lewisville, TX; Paul Hancock and wife Kyla of Olathe, KS; Breanna (Bowden) Burkett and husband Bryan of Roanoke, TX; and Tanner Bowden of N Richland Hills, TX; five great-grandchildren: Kendall Bowden (Drew), Coralyn Burkett (Breanna), Jacob Abu Zareefeh (Sarah), Nova Burkett (Breanna) and Ellery Hancock (Paul). She is also survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Clara Marie and George Smith of Topeka, KS and sister-in-law Margaret Briant of Topeka, KS. She also leaves behind many beloved nieces and nephews and extended family.

Freda was preceeded in death by her parents, Claude Elton Briant in 1979 and Fay Marken Briant in 1982. Her two brothers, Carl Frederick Briant and Claude “Elton” Briant Jr both in 2002. She most recently lost her husband of 68 years, Noel “Marvin” Bowden in 2017.

Though born in CO, Freda’s family moved back to KS when she was just 6 months old. In 1934, when Freda was just 9 years old, she contracted Typhoid Fever and Pneumonia which led to her Near-Death Experience which she remembered vividly and shared with only select, lucky family members. Her fever was so high, her mother had to shave all her hair off due to how matted it became and she experienced terrifying hallucinations, such as snakes in her bed. The country doctor only made it around to the individual farmhouses about every 3 months, so it was up to her mother to help her survive. At one point (she would hear later), her mother could no longer look at her eyes because they had the “look of death” in them. Probably during this time, Freda remembers seeing her favorite climbing tree that belonged to her Grandma Marken and was drawn to the bright light streaming down upon it. She noticed she was wearing her new yellow party-dress and felt so pretty in it. She decided to climb that tree and as she got higher, she noticed the light grew warmer and warmer. She reached the top of the tree and kept right on going. She came to a shiny gate that was attended by a welcoming man in a long, white robe. She went through the gate and saw what looked like stalls of people, separated by family. She quickly found her Grandpa who had recently passed away. She noticed how happy he, and everyone, were and what a beautiful place this was. She knew her Grandma had been missing him horribly so being the thoughtful person she is, she asked the man at the gate if she could go tell her Grandma what she had seen. The man told her she was allowed to go back; this wasn’t her time to stay. She miraculously recovered completely from this terrible illness and she DID tell her Grandma about how happy her Grandpa is in this beautiful place. It certainly wasn’t her time to leave this Earth and this story became a favorite for her children and grandchildren and has helped each of us lose some of our own fear of death. Freda has known since a young child where she would be going and raised us all to be worthy to join her there someday.

Freda graduated high school in Harveyville, KS in 1942. In 1943 she moved to Topeka, KS to work at Winter General Hospital. It was that summer she and 3 other neighborhood girls decided to send “care packages” to some of the neighboring Miller, KS boys that were serving in the Army Air Corps during WWII. One of those boys was Marvin Bowden. Freda wrote to Marvin to alert him to the coming packages. Marvin wrote to his mother, telling her he “had a surprise when Freda Briant wrote a letter-a newspaper in fact!” He answered Freda’s letter and just like that, their relationship had begun. Their first date was to a movie after he returned home. They loved to double-date with Marvin’s nephew Dale Stinson (who was about the same age) and his future-wife, Bonnie. The four of them remained close their whole lives and fittingly, Dale and Bonnie are buried right next to Marvin and Freda in Admire, KS.

Noel “Marvin” Bowden and Freda Lavera Briant were married on April 10, 1949 in Topeka, KS in a Methodist Church. Marvin gave Freda the engagement ring on her birthday, March 22, and they were married just three weeks later. They had planned to marry for several months but had never told anyone. Marvin was starting a job with the Kansas City Star Newspaper and would be delivering the morning and evening papers along the 100 mile route to several rural towns around Emporia, KS, 7 days a week. So if there were to be a ceremony, they had to do it “now!” After marriage, they lived in Emporia for 2 years then moved to Wichita, KS where they would live for 57 years. They had both of their children there, Joyce Noelene in 1951 and Steven Leslie in 1953. They celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 1999 with a bus tour along the Pacific Coast, from Seattle, WA to San Francisco, CA. In 2008, Marvin's dementia became too severe and they moved into Assisted Living in Olathe, KS where they would be close to Joyce and family. They celebrated their 65th Anniversary in 2014 with a huge party full of friends and family right there at their Assisted Living Facility. The highlight of the day was when Marvin sang an impromptu duet with his niece, Bonnie (the daughter of Freda’s brother Carl). Marvin didn’t talk too much by then but he remembered each word and the Tenor harmony to the song “I’ll Be Loving You, Always” and sang it straight to Freda, his life-long love. It was such a testimony to the strength of their love that a line from that song is written on their tombstone.

Not only was Freda a dedicated wife and mother, she was a successful career woman and active church member as well! For an amazing 21 years, from 1959 to 1980, she was the Supervisor of Central Records at The Institute of Logopedics in Wichita. This helped inspire both her daughter and granddaughter to careers in Medical Records. From 1980 to her retirement in 1990, she worked as Secretary in the Physical Therapy Department at Wichita State University. She and Marvin were members of North Hillside Baptist Church from 1955 to 1970, University Baptist Church from 1970 to 1989 and finally Metropolitan Baptist Church from 1989 until the day they moved from Wichita. She participated fully in their church with roles as Sunday School Teacher, Church Clerk, Financial Secretary, working in the Nursery and singing in the choir. Her father loved to sing and her mother tells of how he had she and her brother Carl singing before they could talk. As an adult, she loved singing as a quartet with her family; Marvin as Tenor, Freda as Alto, Joyce as Soprano and Steve as Bass. She and Marvin also sang many duets together. They instilled a love and talent for music that is still going strong all the way down to her great-grandchildren. Freda also loved sewing of all types and taught her daughter to sew her own clothes. Later she would teach her granddaughter how to do counted cross-stitch and they spent many summers working on their crafts side by side while the boys fished. Her favorite craft was crocheting, which she also shared with her daughter. Most of us spent our whole lives napping under a crocheted afghan made by Freda.

Marvin and Freda enjoyed every second of their retirement. After developing a love for camping in a tent with their own kids, they graduated to mobile campers and RVs pulled by Marvin’s truck when they retired. For 10 years, both Joyce’s and Steve’s families lived in TX. The RV allowed them to spend Winters in TX with their family all while feeling like they were in their own home. The RV became a second home for them and they loved the freedom it brought to travel and learn about their country and still be able to return to their amazing home on the lake in their true home of Kansas. Their grandkids have many cherished memories of camping with Grandpa and Grandma on El Dorado Lake or Melvern Lake in KS or simply just being able to escape to the magic that exists only with grandparents right in their own driveway when they’d visit TX. Freda combined her love of travel with her love of genealogy, writing and making new friends and decided to research the Bowden family tree. She spent years researching and meeting new Bowdens all over the country. She even wrote a Bowden Family History book and spent the rest of her life keeping it updated. It was a huge accomplishment that her family will cherish for generations to come.

Freda Bowden was a very special woman who never knew a stranger, practiced what she preached, saw the beauty in everyone and was beyond proud of her family. She taught us that life isn’t always easy. Hard times happen and we have to learn to handle them. Never judge or make fun of others; we don’t know what they’ve been through. Always be loving and supportive towards your spouse. A marriage is an equal partnership where the opinions of both partners should always be considered. Never stop kissing, even if it embarrasses the kids. Lean on Jesus always and always believe in miracles. Share your Testimony with everyone; somebody needs to hear it. Jesus loves everybody; yep, even ‘that person.’ There is always time for a picture. And of course, never go to bed on an empty stomach.

Thank you, God, for Freda Lavera (Briant) Bowden. May we never forget all she taught us. And may we learn to see ourselves as she did, through Your eyes.