Lyle Francis Bowen

Lyle Francis Bowen was born near Alton in Osborne County Kansas to Leslie J. Bowen and Mabel E. (DeForest) Bowen in 1927. He died unexpectedly on October 28, 2022, in Lafayette, CO. We are thankful he was able to live independently in his home and enjoy his many visits with friends and family until his death.

He attended elementary grades in one-room country schools and graduated in 1945 from Osborne High School. Immediately following his graduation, he joined the U.S, Navy and began active duty.

Following a short tour of duty in the Navy and the end of World War II, he attended the University of Kansas. He was employed by Swallow Airplane Company in Wichita, where he wrote and edited the company newsletter among other activities. Anticipating the closure of the company, he moved to Boulder, CO on January 1, 1955. Except for a short time in Montrose, CO, he remained a resident of Boulder for 67 years.

On Friday, May 13, 1955, he married Ruth May Bowen in Boulder, and in his words “it was the best decision I ever made”. He accepted Ruth’s children, Carol, and Ron, as his own and adopted them when the opportunity came about. Ruth and Lyle later welcomed a daughter, Debbie.

After moving to Boulder, he was involved in Purchasing and Material control with Sundstrand Aviation until 1966 and with Gould Auto Filter Division in Longmont and ARF Products in Boulder.

In 1967 he became an instructor at the Boulder Valley Area Vocational Technical Center. He discovered a passion for providing his students with the opportunity to enjoy meaningful and successful careers and remained there until his retirement in 1987. During that time, he also returned briefly to the University of Kansas to finish his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and his Master of Vocational Education from Colorado State University.

He was very involved with Vocational and Technical education throughout the state and served as President of the Colorado Vocational Association. During this time, he received numerous professional awards.

After retirement, he and Ruth enjoyed daily breakfasts with friends and traveling, especially when the travel involved visiting family and friends. Lyle spent many hours with his youngest grandson listening to big band music. He was very proud that Jeremy developed his talent for music and is pursuing a music career.

Lyle was also a member of the Boulder Elks Lodge and the American Legion.

Lyle was preceded in death by his wife Ruth, his parents, an infant brother and his sister, Elsie Hackerott.

He is survived by his children, Carol (Rogers) Coke, Ron Bowen Sr, and Debbie Mohney, 6 grandchildren: Joi Bowen, Kathy (Lawrence Jones) Coke, Ron (Cynthy) Bowen Jr, Kevin (Dawn) Coke, Heather (Pablo Monterrey) Bowen, Jeremy Mohney and 8 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held in the summer of 2023.

For anyone wishing to honor Lyle’s memory with a donation, please consider Hearing Loss Association of America, 6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 320, Rockville, MD 20852, https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/hlaa-donation-form.pdf

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cristmortuary.com for the Bowen family.