In the early morning hours of December 14, 2015 John Benson “Johnny” Bowen Jr. passed away from an illness that had plagued him for almost a year. One month prior to his passing he was finally diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). As most of you know, ALS is a neurologically degenerative disease, with the onset up to 5 years or more prior to death. As tiredness and weakness became a part of his life he was determined to keep going…and did…for a very long time. Not once did he ever complain.
Johnny was a man with a heart that had no boundaries. He made everyone feel as if they were his special friend…his only child. No one was ever more important than who he was with at the moment. And, if there were more than one of his children, or more than one of his friends around, no one ever felt over-shadowed by anyone. Johnny had the capacity to love and give freely and equally to all.
He had a short marriage to Suzanne Latimer which produced three children, however, ended in divorce.
He found true love and friendship with Barbara. Together they forged a bond…blended their families and marched forward with the thought “mine are yours and yours are mine”. It worked. Their interests were the same. They loved to laugh. They shared and cared. He called her my “good girl”. She made him smile. She was the love of his life. They were a unit.
His work originally entailed working as a mechanic, then the excavation arena as well as commercial fishing and crabbing. One of his special interests was the garden he prepared each year. He was such a competitor…particularly with his father , to produce the first red tomato. He was a man that could do most anything.
He was born on March 24, 1936 in Prince Frederick, Maryland to Benson and Virginia H. Bowen. They preceded him in death, as well as his stepson, Mark D. Robertson.
Johnny is survived by his wife Barbara E. Bowen, his children, Monica Kilsheimer, John Benson Bowen III, Candis Bowen, Milton Robertson, Mitchell Robertson and Matthew Robertson as well as ten grandchildren and nine great grandchildren and sister Barbara Bowen Elliott.