|
| |
Mass of Christian Burial for Shirley Jean Bowmaker, 85, of Fairview, will be 10:30 AM, Monday, January 23, 2023 at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Fairview, Oklahoma. Burial will follow in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Arrangements are by the Fairview Funeral Home Inc.
Shirley was born on July 17, 1937, in Independence, Kansas, the daughter of John and Mary (Lehrke) Dalsing. She passed away on January 19, 2023 at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Enid, OK.
When she was two years old her family moved to Greeley KS, where she was raised on the family farm and graduated from Greeley High School. In her senior year in high school she worked as a switchboard operator at the local telephone exchange, and worked as a seamstress at a nearby clothing factory. Through the Catholic Extension Magazine pen pal feature, she met Marion Bowmaker, and they corresponded at first, before falling in love and were married on October 27, 1962 in Garnett, KS. They then settled in Fairview, OK, where she was a homemaker, for 57 years until his passing in 2019. She continued to live independently in the family home in Fairview until her death.
A lifelong and devout Catholic, she was a member of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, where she actively participated in luncheons and seasonal decorating. Growing up on a farm, she learned to be resourceful and efficient, and in her later years she was able to adapt to technology, texting and sharing pictures with family and friends daily, and was well-known for her lawn mowing skills, even last summer. Shirley cared for everyone; she enjoyed cooking, gardening, reading, and the wild birds that flocked to her backyard feeder. She was a calm and gentle person who was never heard with a raised voice, and made sure everyone at the table had enough to eat. Above all, Shirley loved her family and grandchildren and always looked forward to the time they spent together, and she delighted in her sessions of Skip-Bo and Pitch.
Survivors include her twin sister Charlene Bridges of Clovis, California; two sons, Phillip Bowmaker and his wife Tresa of Oklahoma City, and Donovan Bowmaker and his wife Sandra of Weatherford, OK; three daughters, JoAnne Kessens and her husband Mark of Cache, OK, Susan Wren and her husband Brian of Webber Falls, OK, and LaDonna Lock and her husband Jason of Bemidji, MN, and 14 grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; two brothers, Virgil Dalsing and James Dalsing, and two sisters, Agnes Sunderland and Rita Fischer; her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Joseph and Anna Bowmaker; and a daughter, Mary.
Memorial donations can be made to Center of Family Love in Okarche, OK.
Condolences may be made online at www.fairviewfuneralhomeinc.com.
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.