Arlene Bowles

Jodd P Bowles, 60, passed away unexpectedly May 7th during his recent battle with cancer. Five days later on May 12th, Arlene, 76, suffered a stroke, likely as a result of broken heart syndrome following the passing of her beloved husband of 35 years. During her follow-up testing, it was discovered that Arlene’s cancer had metastasized to her brain. She survived 8 days in hospice care, with her sons and daughter Phoebe by her side. Arlene left our world to go find Jodd on May 20th, just 13 days after his passing.

Jodd and Arlene met in the 80’s in New York City at a young leaders event. During one of the lectures, Jodd stood up and questioned the lecturer’s statement, to which Arlene leaned over to her friend and said under her breath “what an asshole.” That night Jodd, Arlene, and both of their friends shared a cab home and Jodd leaned over to his best friend, Benjamin, and told him “You see that woman in the front of the cab? I am going to marry her.” While Jodd may have known it was love at first sight, it took Arlene a bit longer to make her decision. One day, while Jodd, Arlene and her best friend Barbara were discussing their past lives, Jodd replied tongue-in-cheek, “I was a rock.” Arlene elatedly responded “OH! I love rocks!” and that was when she knew.

Jodd was the son of F. Douglas and Marnie Bowles of Oneonta NY. Arlene was the daughter of George and Dolores Lord of the Philadelphia area of New Jersey.

Jodd and Arlene devoted their lives to helping others, finding joy in times of uncertainty, and most of all, to raising their twin boys, Ben and Nigel. Arlene was previously married to Andrew Parker (now of Clearwater, FL) and together, they have a daughter, Phoebe. Arlene raised Phoebe on both Orr’s Island, Maine and in Freeport, Maine, always close to the ocean. Jodd shared Arlene’s love of the beach and they got married in a secluded spot on Popham Beach in 1987.

Growing up in the Philadelphia area with her one brother and one sister, Arlene graduated from Triton Regional High School and studied English at Beaver College. She enjoyed ballet, was a theater actor in school plays, and was also a member of her school’s student government. Arlene stayed an avid participant in civic involvement throughout life whether it be Women’s suffrage, local government in Auburn, or serving as President of the Parent Teacher Organization at her boys' elementary schools (she was there so often that students often mistook her for a teacher). While Arlene spent the majority of her free time raising her twin boys, Ben and Nigel, she also was able to enjoy several other hobbies. She designed, sewed, and made from scratch many dresses, shirts, pants, halloween costumes (with which the family claimed many 1st place prizes at the Auburn Mall halloween costume contests) and so much more. Around the time of her first marriage, Arlene got into astrology and archaeology, and these passions remained an important part of her life to the very end. This led to her love of rocks and she had a large collection of various rocks, gems, and semi-precious stones which she believed had healing energies. In the fall of 2022, Ben took Nigel, Jodd and Arlene on her dream trip to Egypt to visit the pyramids. In her custom made wheelchair, Arlene wheeled herself to the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza, stood up, and feeling the energy of the pyramids, she was able to walk the last 100 feet and touch the stone herself.

Arlene worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, as the Head of Computer Operations. She was most proud to be the one in charge of preparing the Lewiston/Auburn area check systems for Y2K. Upon retiring from the Federal Reserve (and trying to adjust to “normal life” after working nights for 30 years), Arlene worked as a Real Estate agent in the Greater Lewiston/Auburn area. She found so much joy in assisting people find their forever homes and enjoyed the freedom of making her own work schedule. She worked as a Real Estate agent until her diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer in 2016, which she stubbornly fought until the very end.

Jodd grew up in Oneonta, NY with his two brothers and one sister. He graduated from Oneonta Senior High School and from Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT, with a B.S. in Therapeutic Recreation. While in college Jodd was the captain of the ski team, and his love of skiing stayed with him for the rest of his life. Later in life, Jodd would spend a quarter of his year on the slopes. He also had many off snow hobbies, including: skateboarding, soccer, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, ocean surfing, windsurfing, kayaking, hiking, camping, electronics and audio equipment, and more recently, he got back into paintball with his son Nigel. He spent countless spring, summer, and fall days at the Lewiston skatepark. Without Jodd, the Skate Lewiston Auburn Movement (SLAM!) would not have formed and the Lewiston skatepark would not have been built.

Jodd’s official work title for many years was “Owner of Regenesis, rehabilitation, therapeutic recreation services, life care planning and monitoring, and technical services for traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors.” In layman's terms, he helped rehabilitate people with TBI through recreation. This often took the form of assisting blind or partially blind clients to ski, bowl, hunt, fence, skateboard and so much more. He helped many people re-find their passions after TBI’s. Jodd also held many other part time jobs, including substitute teacher, soccer coach, Uber driver, and most recently was a concrete construction inspector for Fessenden Geo-Technical, LLC (FGT)

Jodd may be best known for his big yellow coat and numerous roles in the Maine Ski Community. He spent more than 30 combined years coaching ski teams at Hebron Academy, Auburn Middle School, Edward Little High School, and Gould Academy Competition Program. He also coached for the Lost Valley Racing Club and the Julie Parisien Junior Racing Team at Lost Valley. He worked World Cup events, the Olympics, U.S. Nationals, NORAM Nationals and other high-profile races at Sunday River and Sugarloaf. He served as Race Director at Lost Valley for over 30 years. During this time, he ran the Mountain Dew race series and the Thursday night Bud league. Arlene was right behind Jodd during his wintery escapades the whole time; while she never learned to ski, she was always there to support. Whether it be assisting with registration, filling in race times on the board, warming kids hands and feet or providing food. Arlene was always at the finish line, front and center, cheering everyone on with her loud green cowbell.

Throughout all of their passions in life, Jodd and Arlene had one commonality: experiencing life to the fullest. Whatever Jodd or Arlene did, they did it wholly and entirely. When asked, Arlene stated the one thing she wanted included in the obituary for Jodd was “always faithful.” They found a special way to show their love to all who knew them.

They are survived by their sons, Nigel Lord Bowles and his wife Sara (Moore) and granddog Vegas of Manchester ME, Benjamin Jodd Bowles and his fiancée Elena (Origlio) of Medford MA, Jodd’s brothers, Roderick Bowles and his wife Mary (Terwiske) of Surfside SC, and Todd Bowles of Santa Barbara CA, and his sister, Kris Palmatier and her husband Wayne, of Schoharie NY, Arlene’s daughter, Phoebe Parker and partner Craig (Singleton) of Clearwater FL, Arlene’s brother, Bryan Lord and his wife Doreen (Skala) of Bellmawr, NJ, and Arlene’s sister, Laurie Lord of Girard, OH.

A joint Celebration of Life for family and friends will be held on July 16th at Lost Valley in Auburn Maine, from 1-4 pm. There will be a short formal ceremony at 1:30pm, followed by light refreshments and time to share stories and memories.