Damon is the beloved son of Brian and Orquidia "Kat" (nee Hernandez) Bower; loving brother of Marco Contreras, Jasmine Contreras, Maria Bower, Jose Olivares and Tristan Bower; cherished grandson of Neil and Bette Bower and Maria Olvera and the late Martin Olvera; dear nephew of Terri Bower, Laurie (Vance) Behringer, Jennifer Bower, Dora (Mike) Rivas, Maria Torres, Anna Hernandez, Elizabeth Hernandez, Manuel Hernandez, Isay Olvera, Avimael Olvera and Pedro Olvera; dear cousin of many.
Our Beloved son, Damon Alexander Bower “DAB” was born February 28, 2002, in Visalia, California at 8:50 A.M. He was in a hurry to come into to this world and meet his family. We had a lengthy drive to the hospital and within minutes of arriving Damon was here. Damon was our fifth child, but my first-born son. We are a blended family, but the words half and step do not exist here. We moved to Ohio when Damon was just under a year old. I was born and raised here, and we decided that our children should grow up with the values that only northeast Ohio and the Midwest could only instill.
Damon was the center of our family since the day he arrived. He always had a knack for pulling our family back together. He was a fun-loving boy who enjoyed being around people. Damon made lasting impressions and friends starting at an early age. Even when Damon was at his most ill, people still wanted to spend time with him. He was always positive and wanted everyone around him to be happy. No matter how bad a day it may be with his illness, he would make it a point to compliment even the strangers he passed by, just to brighten their day a little.
Damon was an avid nature lover. He loved hiking, walking, water activities, art, gaming, music and photography. Damon spent as much time out in nature as his health would allow.
Damon accomplished so much in the short time he was here with us. He graduated high school during the pandemic while on chemotherapy. He was able to become scuba certified and dive with me in Hawaii. He got his driver’s license. He did several fundraisers for the Cleveland Clinic and other organizations. He had beat cancer the first round of treatments, just to name a few. Damon worked extremely hard to inform as many people as possible about Ewing’s Sarcoma. He wanted to help find a cure for this childhood cancer. He always would say he does not want any other family to have to go through what we are going through.
Damon, our beautiful baby boy, made an impact on everyone he met. Damon had many plans for his future. He was interested in the human mind and was planning on enrolling in college to become a psychologist. Damon wanted to have a large family with many children. He would often ask me if I thought he would be a good dad, my reply was always “I think you would make a great dad!”. Damon was on course to change the world, even if it meant doing it by helping one person at a time. He will forever be loved and missed. It was an honor to raise Damon and a privilege to be his parents.
