8/8/1928 - 9/28/2020
A farmer rooted in the soil of his family’s Greene Township homestead,
Roger C.
Bowen, 92, of rural Portland, died Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, of
COVID-19 in IU Jay
Hospital.
Born on Aug. 8, 1928, Roger was the
fifth (and last survivor) of F. Raymond and A. Opal
(Wood) Bowen’s six
children. He spent his entire life on the family farm, growing corn
and
soybeans and gathering eggs from the chicken house to sell to neighbors; he
retired
in 1997.
In 2005 he wrote in a short autobiography, “I’ll
keep taking care of the farm as long as I
can. I’ve lived my whole life
here, taking care of it while it’s taken care of me and my
family. What
else would I do?”
In addition to farming, Roger sold seed for
Northrup King Seed Company for many
years. He also tested grain samples
in storage bins for the ACS office for several years
and assisted with
land appraising in Greene Township for one summer.
But most notably
he supplemented his farming income by flying commercial charter
flights –
often for Portland Forge, Sheller-Globe, and Naas Foods executives -- and
giving flying lessons from Steed Field, his home away from home. He caught
“flying
fever” as a young man, soloing on his 18th birthday and earning
his private pilot’s license
in 1947.
His first eight years of
schooling were in the one-room Center School before he
graduated from
Portland High School in 1946. He served as vice president of his senior
class alongside Luetta June Smith, who was secretary-treasurer. They later
dated and then
married on June 25, 1950, at First Methodist (now Asbury)
Church in Portland.
Roger, who started almost every day of his adult
life by driving into Portland to “hear the
gossip but leave it at the
door” while drinking coffee at the now-closed Corner Café (and
previously
at Laramie Lunch and the Breezeway Restaurant), served as an at-large
member of the Jay County Council from 1972 to 1992. He was council president
when
the hospital opened in 1980 and spoke at its dedication ceremonies.
His name is on a
plaque in the building where he died.
A founding
member of the Portland Morning Optimist Club, Bowen served as its
president in 1987-88 and worked many shifts at the Optimist Building at the
Jay County
Fairgrounds over the years. He was also a 67-year member of
the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows’ Omega Lodge #218 and served as the
Noble Grand in 1963, 2000, 2003,
and 2005 as well as its financial
officer for many years.
In addition, Roger was a member of the Jay
County Historical Society, donating to its
museum the Votaw Street toll
building that had sat on the family farm for decades.
He was
dedicated to Center Church, serving as treasurer/trustee/custodian for most
of his
adult years and also as the adult Sunday School leader for some of
those years. He
attended Center Church his entire life until it closed in
2018, when he transferred his
church membership to Asbury.
In
addition to his wife Luetta, survivors include Pamela (Jack) Burks of
Fishers; Kathy
Stolz of Franklin; Jeffrey of Portland; Douglas (Jacquie)
of Greeley, Colo.; Mark of Falls
Church, Va; and Todd (Lionel Smith) of
Evanston, Ill. His surviving family also includes
six grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren.
Predeceasing Roger were his parents and his
siblings, Lena Morrical, Virginia Bowen,
Fred Bowen, Carl Bowen, and Gene
“Bud” Bowen and a granddaughter, Abbie Bowen.
Calling will be from 10
a.m. until the 1 p.m. funeral on Sat., Oct. 3 at Asbury United
Methodist
Church, 204 E. Arch St., Portland. He will be buried in Salamonia Cemetery
following the funeral.
The family requests memorial gifts be made to
the church.
Mask will be required for attendance at the church.
Williamson & Spencer Funeral Home; September 29, 2020
Contributed by Jim Cox
Buried in Salamonia Cemetery