Ron was born in Carthage, Missouri, and moved as a young boy with his family to Kansas City. After graduating from Central High School, he served in the US Navy and was stationed in the Philippines. Upon leaving the service, he began a career as a systems analyst at Business Men’s Assurance Company of America (BMA) in Kansas City, where he worked for 34 years. He began attending night school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and earned a bachelor’s degree in history.
After taking an early retirement from BMA, Ron worked on the staff at Colonial Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, where he was also a member. (He later attended Graceway Church in Raytown, where he was a deacon, and Beggars Table Church in Kansas City.) He was hired by Colonial as an assistant business administrator and was tasked with establishing the church’s computer system. He also began his own business, offering computer programming services to nonprofits around the Kansas City area.
Ron was an avid fan of music. His tastes were eclectic, running the gamut from classical to opera to jazz to the Eagles. He immersed himself in spy and mystery novels (particularly works by John le Carré). As a young man, he played baseball and passed that love on to his family. He coached Little League and was thrilled when his beloved Royals won the World Series in 1985 and 2015.
Ron enjoyed traveling throughout the United States, but his true joy was tending to his home and yard in South Kansas City. He was an accomplished woodworker and gardener and spent countless hours in his basement workshop and outside landscaping.
Ron is survived by his wife of 63 years, Zelda Taylor Bowles; his daughter, Susan Bowles Donsky of Washington, DC, and her husband, Martin Donsky; his son, Jon Logan Bowles of Kansas City, and his wife, Kari Palmer Bowles; three grandsons, Isaac, Palmer, and Samuel; and one granddaughter, Elliott. Survivors also include a brother, Terry Bowles of South Carolina, and a sister, Janet Castle, of Topeka, Kansas.
