Obituary of Donald Aden Bowman
Following a stroke, Donald passed away quietly on Friday, November 23, 2018, in Regina. Donald was born April 22, 1922, in Saskatoon, to Aden and Lillie Bowman. His parents were both city councillors and the family owned Bowman Brothers, a large automotive wholesale business. After high school, where he excelled in mathematics, Donald attended the University of Saskatchewan where he studied Engineering and met his wife Muriel. They were married in 1943 and in 69 years of marriage they were only separated during the war years. Donald served in the navy as a Second Lieutenant in HMCS Edmunston, a Canadian Corvette ship which was part of the convoy guarding merchant ships to and from the United Kingdom.
In the post-war years, Donald worked with the family business in Saskatoon, North Battleford and later Regina, until he left the firm to purchase two farms in the Qu’Appelle Valley and settle in Lumsden. He and Muriel were active members of the community and the United Church there. Near Craven, Donald built a livestock/feedlot operation which became a model of innovation and humane design. From the early 1960s until the mid-1970s he also developed a specialty advertising business which had national clients.
When their four children had grown, Don and Muriel relocated to Regina where they remained active socially and in their Christian faith. Even in retirement, Donald, always a salesman, travelled throughout the west and made a lot of friends in the Prairie Provinces. He wrote a book about his time at sea. In 2013 and again in 2016, Don, accompanied by family, attended commemorative services for the Battle of the Atlantic in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, where he forged numerous friendships with members of the Royal Naval Association. He ended his years in the Veterans’ wing of Wascana Hospital where he was unfailingly cheerful and much-loved by the angelic staff. There were disappointments and reversals of fortune in his life, but he never shrank from them. He turned an open face to the challenge and acted with optimism, honesty, good nature and fairness. He was, by any standard of measurement, a good man.
Donald was predeceased by his precious wife, Muriel, and son, David, and is survived by children Brian (Lorna Forsyth), Cathy, Tammy (Kim Calfas), daughter-in-law Arlyn Bowman, grandchildren Kelcy, Dan, Joe, Chris, Stephie and numerous great-grandchildren and extended relatives and friends. The family wishes to thank the staff and volunteers of Wascana Hospital Veterans’ Unit 3-5 for the care and comfort they gave him during his time there and especially in Don’s final days.
A celebration of Don’s life will be held at Speers Funeral Chapel, 2136 College Avenue, Regina, SK on Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. Donations in Don’s memory in honor of his wartime service may be made to HMCS Sackville, Canadian Naval Memorial Trust, P.O. Box 99000, Stn Forces, Halifax NS, B3K 5X5, http://www.canadanavalmemorial.ca or the Royal Canadian Legion, Regina Branch #1, 1920 Cornwall Street, Regina, SK, S4P 2K2.
