Gordon E. Bowers

Gordon E. Bowers passed away peacefully on Saturday, November fifteenth after a long illness. He was 83 years old and lived in Topeka his entire life. He was from an old Topeka family that settled here in 1881.

Gordon, our father, was born April 4th, 1925 to his parents Eugene L. Bowers and Elisabeth Edson Bowers. He attended Topeka High School and then went on to study mathematics at Washburn University where he joined the Pi Delta Theta Fraternity.

During the war he was accepted in to the V-12 Officer Training Program in the Navy and studied advanced communications at both Harvard University and Columbia University. Upon graduation he was stationed in Japan during the occupation.

He returned to Topeka and began working in the family business, Bowers Construction Company, with his father, Eugene L. Bowers, and grandfather, Lewis K. Bowers and later his brother, Shannon Edson Bowers joined the firm. They specialized in constructing commercial and civic buildings such as portions of the Topeka Public Library, Stormont Vail Hospital, and buildings for the Army at various bases in the Midwest.

In 1948 he married Helen Louise Ream of Wichita and raised three children together.

Gordon was a lifetime member of the Topeka Country Club, a member of Topeka Chamber of Commerce and served as president of the Topeka Board of Realtors in the early nineteen sixties.

He was passionate about nature and world history and he loved all creatures, especially dogs.

Gordon is survived by his three children, Gordon Edson Bowers Jr. of Kansas City, Lee Bowers-Cunningham also of Kansas City and Anne Bowers Lynch of Del Mar, California. He is also survived by his beloved granddaughter, Lee Elisabeth Lynch of Del Mar, his brother Shannon Edson Bowers of Sun City, Arizona and his two son-in-laws, Robert A. Cunningham Jr. and William M. Lynch.

We will all miss his wry sense of humor and his vast knowledge of the world.

There will be a memorial service held for Gordon at Mount Hope Cemetery in the Biddle Room of Mount Hope Abbey Chapel at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 22nd.

The family asks that you make donations to Brewster Foundation Employee Christmas Fund, 1001 SW 29th St, Topeka, KS 66611, rather than sending flowers. Penwell-Gabel Mid Town Chapel is assisting with arrangements.

Anchors Away!