Charles L. Bowen

Charles L. Bowen, 87, born on June 3, 1926, in Monmouth, Illinois, passed away October 5, 2013. He resided in Garden Grove, California and at the time of his passing was surrounded by his loved ones. Arrangements are under the direction of Forest Lawn, Cypress, California.

He is survived by his wife Mary A. Bowen(Curry), his daughter Shellie R. Brison, his son-in-"like" Carlos Hernandez, Grandson Bowen F. Brison and his wife Jessica Brison, Grandson Donald E. Brison, Jr., Great-Grandchildren Isabella LaVay Brison and Liam Robert Bowen Brison.

On October 5th at 6:50pm the Lord Jesus came and took my Dad's hand to lead him "Home". I am blessed to have had the privilege to be with him when he left this life on earth and entered into the presence of the Lord! He is now at peace and I believe having a great time with all his family and friends that have gone on before him. In the weeks before his death, he spoke many times of going home to see his family. At first I thought he was talking about his family in Illinois, but as it grew closer to the end of his time here, I realized he was talking about his home with the Lord.

I want to share a little bit about my Dad. He was a wonderful Dad, he taught me a great work ethic and when I was young I may not have appreciated it then, but I sure do now! He was a hard working farmer in Monmouth, Illinois and it was a profession that he loved and was good at. I have many wonderful memories of my days with him on the farm. One of my favorite things to do with him, was riding on the back of the tractor as he worked in the field. I tried to follow him everywhere!

After a visit made to California where my Mom's brother Ben lived with his wife, Lucille and daughter, Connie, my Mom and Dad decided to start a new life in California. So the process started to let go of our life in Illinois and once finished, we traveled cross country to California and arrived on January 20, 1964. Now I was not happy to leave behind my family and the farm and it took me awhile to become a "California Girl", but as you know, "you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl"! I'm still a country girl at heart!

My Dad has been a member of the American Legion Post 136 in Monmouth for over 60 years. I remember my Mom and Dad going to the American Legion for dances all the time, they loved to dance. They even took lessons at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. As a little girl I remember going to parades to watch my Dad march in them in his uniform, I found his hat with all the pins a couple of days ago, he has kept it all these years. I remember going with them to the Thornton's in Monmouth to play bridge with their friends while I pestered the Thornton boys or vice versa, it was fun times. My Mom and Dad seemed to have a lot of friends and enjoyed their social life very much. I also have a lot of wonderful memories of all my Aunts, Uncles and cousins on both sides of the family and I found that I missed being with them very much. We didn't always get along, but still, we're family! It was an adjustment going from the farm and having all our family close by to being a city girl and basically "alone", but Mom and Dad did their best helping me to adjust and I'm grateful to them for their love and patience with me. I could be a "brat" at times! :-)

As I said before my Dad was a hard working man. After coming to California, he went to my Uncle Ben's beauty school, Stanton College of Beauty, in Stanton, CA, of course. He graduated and bought his own beauty salon in Fountain Valley and boy did his little lady patrons adore him. He owned that for a few years but sold it after his hands kept breaking out from all the chemicals in all the hair products he handled. He knew he had to work, so he started out as a night guard for a few years, then he got hired at Swedlow, Inc. in Garden Grove, where he was a tool and die maker, after more than 20 years there he retired, not sure just how many ,haven't been able to find his hire and retire dates, but I did find his 20 year pin. While he worked at Swedlow, there were times when work was slow and he would get "laid off", he would then go find something else to work at, he started a janitorial service at that time, and I got to work with him. I had a horse at the time and I helped to pay for the cost of her board by "working" for him. He also went to Real Estate school to become a realtor, so he sold houses as well. He puchased the home we now live in when he was a realtor, it was one of his listings. My Mom liked it so much, they decided to buy it themselves. I remember that he worked at Swedlow in the day, janitor by night and realtor on the weekends. As I said before, he was a hard working man, he knew he had to work hard to provide for his family. I have a great respect for him because of that.

Dad married my Mom, Mary A. Curry on March 19th, 1951 at the First Christian Church in Monmouth, Ill., by Rev. Orville Wright. At the time of his death, he and my Mom had been married 62 and half years. My Mom and Dad went through a "rough" patch when I was 15 or 16, but came through it ok, they adored each other. Even when my Dad was far into his dementia, he still had that instinct to take care of my Mom and that she was his sweetheart, even if he couldn't remember her name. Mom also has dementia, but she is always looking for Charlie to sit with her and hold her hand. I would come home from work many times and find them sitting next to each other in their recliners holding hands.

My Dad was also a member of the Elks in Monmouth, when he came to California he transferred his membership to the Elks Lodge 1952 in Garden Grove.
He became a Life member in 1992 and of this date he has 67 years of membership. I remember going with them to the Elks for family activities and that usually meant there was music and dancing, I loved watching them dance together. And when I got older my Dad taught me to dance, I wasn't as good as Mom of course, but I could dance the easy dances with him and I loved that! My Mom and Dad loved going to the Elks and being involved in as many activites as they could. They purchased a Motorhome and became part of the Elk Enders and started traveling. My Dad enjoyed going to the Elks for a hot dog and a beer for lunch through the week, he enjoyed volunteering for various things the Elks did. There are many more things about my Dad and the Elks that I could share, but it would take too much room. As he got older and his mind started to go, he wouldn't attend the meetings, but I would take him and drop him off at the Elks so he could have dinner with his buddies. Eventually he got to the point he couldn't go anymore and I felt very sad for him about that.

Not only was my Dad a wonderful husband and father, he was a wonderful grandfather. I was so happy when I had boys, because he and my Mom only had me and I was girl and now there were boys in the family. He adored his grandsons and enjoyed spoiling them with some help from their grandma Mary. He was always there for them, took them places when they needed too, took them on Elk Ender campouts and taught them many things. His grandsons have grown into good men and I believe he is one of the reasons that they are. Even though when his great-grandchildren came along he was already in his dementia, I would watch his face as he watched them playing nearby and I could tell he enjoyed it very much by the smile on his face and his burst of laughter at times!

As far as I can remember, my Dad loved to golf and he did until he was 80 years old, but his back really started to give him trouble so he had to stop. I'd like to think, if there is a golf course in Heaven, that he is enjoying himself right now on the golf course and golfing with his brother-in-laws; Ben, Ted, Vince and his bestfriend here in California, Art!

Mama and I love you Daddy and we'll all miss you very much, but I know it is only for a time and that we will meet again!

"A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck, I love you, I love you!" xoxoxoxo