J. Thomas Bowen, 77, of Athens died peacefully at home on August 3, 2026, surrounded by his family. Born July 18, 1949, he was the son of the late Joel Thomas Bowen and Inez Phillips Bowen of Covington, Georgia.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Nancy Bunker Bowen, three sons, Thomas Shay Hopkins (Jeanette) of Atlanta, Jesse Michael Bowen (Ginny) of Decatur, Toby Phillips Bowen (MaryGlenn) of Athens, and five cherished grandchildren.
The first of his family to attend college, Tom went on to earn bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business and education from the University of Georgia. After a 33-year career in campus planning, academic affairs, and finance and administration at UGA, he retired as Associate Vice President emeritus in 2004. He then served six years as Vice President for Administration and Finance at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia.
He was a principal partner of Comprehensive Facilities Planning, Inc., a public and private college master planning consulting firm he and colleagues from Ohio State University founded in 1994. He was also honored to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Society for College and University Planning in 2006.
He and Nancy returned home to Athens in 2013 to enjoy a well-earned retirement that included long weekend “explores” across the Southeast, hosting family gatherings at Hilton Head Island SC, and long-planned “bucket list” trips and cruises. He was a contributing author of the bicentennial history of the First Presbyterian Church of Athens, published in 2021.
Tom was a graduate of Leadership Athens, served as chair of the East Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross, and was a member of the Athens Rotary Club. His lifelong love of sports led him to coach Athens Little League and Senior League baseball teams, to play on local courts with the Classic City Tennis Club, and to try for the elusive hole-in-one at local golf courses.
He was predeceased by his parents, his brother Billy Thomas Bowen, and his sister Mildred Bowen Martin. His family wishes to thank the skilled and compassionate members of the Athens and Atlanta medical community who helped Tom receive and recover from a heart transplant in 2019 and is also grateful for the excellent care he received from specialists at the University Cancer and Blood Center and from Athens Family Hospice over the last year.
A celebration of Tom’s life will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Athens, Georgia on Wednesday, August 12, with a visitation at 12:30 p.m. and a service at 2:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, we invite you to consider donations in his memory to either the UGA School of Medicine Scholarship Fund or to the Tom and Nancy Bowen Patient Education Fund at Piedmont Athens Regional Foundation.
Bernstein Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
