Stuart Waddington Bowen

Colonel Stuart Waddington Bowen, 81, of Kensington, Maryland, died on Wednesday morning, August 5, 2015, at Kensington Park Senior Living Community with family gathered around him. He had suffered from Alzheimer's Disease for several years. Colonel Bowen was born in Columbus, Georgia, on April 26, 1934. His father, Colonel James E. Bowen, Jr., was a career Army officer who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Like his father and his brother James III, Col. Bowen attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, receiving his engineering degree as a member of the class of 1956. Upon commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, Col. Bowen entered flight training, earning his wings in 1957. He served his country as a fighter pilot and military leader for 20 years. Colonel Bowen's assignments included postings to Okinawa, Arizona (where he received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona), the United Kingdom, West Germany, Alabama, the Pentagon, and, most notably, South Vietnam. During his service in Southeast Asia in 1966-67, Col. Bowen flew in excess of 100 combat missions over North Vietnam in the F-4 out of Da Nang, for which valor he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and numerous Air Medals. His Air Force career included key roles in the development of the A-10 ground attack aircraft and as the Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force.

After retiring in 1976, Col. Bowen spent 15 years as a senior executive at BDM, International, in Tysons Corner, Virginia, where he led a number of programs supporting the development of major Department of Defense intelligence systems. A long-time Washingtonian and graduate of The Sidwell Friends School, Colonel Bowen was married to Mary Mallory Marshall of Washington, DC, with whom he had two children, Sophie and Stuart Jr. Subsequently, he was married to Anne May of Charlottesville, Virginia. Colonel Bowen had seven grandchildren, the lights of his life: Mary Elizabeth and Catherine Schubert of Chevy Chase, Maryland; and Marshall, Gentry, Sophie, Mallory, and Nathalie Bowen of Austin, Texas. Also surviving him are his son-in-law Michael Schubert of Chevy Chase, daughter-in-law Adriana Bowen of Austin, sister-in-law Nancy Bowen of Tuscon, Arizona, and niece Betsy Bowen Hul of Tuscon. Services will be held at The Fort Myer Chapel at Arlington Cemetery, when Col. Bowen's scheduled interment occurs. Those wishing to make a memorial donation may direct it to The Air Force Aid Society.