Missions, Funerals, and Family Growth

In March 1984 President Kinghorn (from Sugar City) called me to be the Relief Society President of the Ricks College 20th Ward, with 170 sisters to organize. It was the beginning of a very humbling experience, and a very busy time of my life. We had to be so humble and prayerful in choosing those to fill the various Relief Society callings. My counselors and I visited each apartment so we could get acquainted with the Sisters and make our recommendations to the Bishop.
Cindy received her patriarchal blessing in January, and our son Craig got his mission call in April to the Buenos Aires, Argentina Mission. We were excited for him to be able to learn Spanish and converse with Kim.

That summer we moved my mother into a small home close to us in Sugar City. It sure was nice to have her close. Our second grandson, Scott LeGrand, was born to Kim and Sandy on October 2nd.

(Kim and Scott LeGrand Bowen)

(Scott Bowen's Blessing Day)

 Then Craig entered the M.T.C. in November and flew to Argentina in January. How thankful we were to have our second son serving the Lord.

(Elder Craig Bowen, Argentina)

1985

I had been teaching 3rd grade for eight years and decided I wanted a change, so I began teaching 1st grade in 1985. 

(Nada Bowen)

In February, Cindy was asked to give a talk in a program called "Great American".

She chose to talk about her Grandmother, Rula Bowen (Garry's mom), and she entitled it "Woman of all seasons."

(Rula Bowen)

It even had a slide presentation to go with it, and it was a beautiful talk. We were very proud of her.

Pam had a beautiful baby girl on February 26th (the same day I met Garry 29 years ago). They named her Dana Lyn. Jason was sure cute with his baby sister. She had black hair and won our hearts completely.

(Dana Lyn Bartschi)

In April we purchased a home on North Cutler Avenue in Sugar City. Kim got a few days leave and helped us with our move. That summer we took a trip to Canada with Cindy and Garry's folks. We went to Baniff, visited the Cardston Temple, Lake Louise, Waterton Lake, and The Calgary Stampede. It was fun to watch Garry's dad get so excited about the rodeo. It was the last trip we were able to take with Garry's folks before his dad became ill.

After Thanksgiving we took Cindy to California for a Teen Pageant. She did a great job, especially in "Talent" as she played the piano. She didn't place, but was able to give a Book of Mormon to her roommate. When we returned home to Sugar City, the driveway was full of snow. Garry was using the snowblower when the blade got stuck, and when he tried to clear out the snow he accidentally cut off the tip of his finger. He dislocated his elbow falling on the ice a few months later. That was a rough winter for Garry.

1986

Cindy started the first Junior Miss Pageant in Sugar City in May 1986, just before she graduated high school. That summer she started working at Beehive Book.

(Cindy Bowen)

I continued my calling as Relief Society President in the Ricks College 20th Ward. Then in November, Craig returned from his Mission to Argentina. We met him with banners and "Welcome Home" signs. His mission companion, Omar Gutoff, arrived a week later and lived with our family while attending Ricks College.

1987

In 1987 I was released from the Ricks College Relief Society and started teaching 2nd grade, which I loved. Craig Bartschi's youngest sister, Roseanne, passed away from Leukemia in April and we attended the funeral. Craig and Omar went to Salt Lake to pick up Omar's fiance Grace, and she and Omar were married in May. Our ward gave them a nice reception and helped them set up their apartment in Rexburg. 

(Our four grandchildren: Jason, Christina, Scott, and Dana)

On May 10th, Ruth's daughter Lorilee and her three boys were in a terrible car accident. Her new baby and her 2-year-old were killed. Lorilee and her son Cade had bad injuries and were in the hospital for weeks. My brother Ellis married Teckla in June, just before Cindy left to Europe with the Ricks College Folk Dancers. She called us from Italy and France!

Our third grandson, Gregg Joseph Bowen, was born on August 27th to Kim and Sandy. Kim was a proud Dad! 

(Gregg Joseph Bowen)

 A few days later, we received the news that my sister Ruth's cancer had spread from under her arm to her liver and lungs. Mom's sister Edith passed away in October. 

1988

Cindy graduated from Ricks College in April 1988. We welcomed another grandson, Jared Craig Bartschi, on May 8th.

(Jared Craig Bartschi)

My beloved sister, Ruth, passed away on May 27th. My mother and Beth rode with Garry and I to California for the funeral. The attendance at the funeral was the biggest they had ever had in Coalinga! All of Ruth's grandchildren wrote her a note and put them in balloons and sent them to heaven. It was so cute! We took mom to the Oakland Temple while we were in California for the funeral. Ruth had suffered for over 30 years with cancer, but was given a blessing that she would live to see her children grown. So Judy and Bob were both married before she passed! What a faithful woman she was!

(Ruth and Laurn Beutler)

Craig and Cindy spent the summer performing at Ricks College in "The Sound of Music." Craig was cast as Captain Von Trapp, and Cindy played a nun. 

(Craig Bowen and Jennie Williams in "The Sound of Music")

Garry's dad had been home bound with illness for about a year, so Garry began making frequent trips up to Driggs to help. Their relationship had been stormy in the past, so he felt glad he was able to improve the feelings of love between them, and it really improved their relationship! Fred spent his last week in the hospital. While there, Milo and Evelyn invited Rhoda to take a trip to Utah with them. She hadn't left his side for 2 years! But before they even got to Rexburg, the hospital called to say he had passed away on August 13th. The funeral was held up in Bates. 

(Fred Bowen Family 1979)

Sandy gave birth to our third granddaughter, Hilary Ann, on September 12th. 

(Hilary Ann Bowen)

We went down to Logan to visit them during conference in October, where Cindy surprised us with her mission call! Craig had brought it down from the post office in Sugar City all the way to Utah without Garry knowing, and Cindy presented it to him as a special birthday gift. She was called to serve in the Pacific Island of Guam! She entered the M.T.C. in December and left for Guam in January.

(Cindy Bowen)

1989

Craig proposed to Jennie Williams in April and graduated from Ricks College that year. He moved to Logan to begin school at Utah State after completing his basic training for the Air Force. Pam had her fourth baby, Brandon Arlin Bartschi, on July 20th.

(Pam's Kids: Jason, Dana, Jared, and Brandon Bartschi 1989)

My brother Dan married Jill Moss on July 26th. Craig and Jennie were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on September 9th.

(Craig Bowen and Jennie Williams)

My sister Beth's son, Max, was killed in an accident on October 5th.

1990

Garry's youngest sister Carma was married to Jimmy Allison on June 1st. Cindy completed her mission and wanted us to come to the Marshall Islands to pick her up and meet the wonderful people on the island. But because of the cost, we could only meet her halfway, which was in Hawaii! When she got off the plane Cindy had on many leis and dozens of shell necklaces that the members had made for her farewell as she left! She hardly had any clothes in her suitcase, as she left them for the island girls who needed them worse than she did. Her trainer, Emija Aini, came with her and we brought them home and moved them to an apartment in Logan where Cindy started school at Utah State.

1991

Craig and Jennie welcomed their first baby, Jenessa L'e Bowen, on January 7th, then Craig graduated from Utah State and was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force in June.

(Jenessa L'e Bowen)

Our oldest grandson, Jason, was baptized on June 1st. Cindy was an E.F.Y. counselor that summer, and she and Emija had been working at the Logan D.I. for a year to save enough money for all three of us to travel back to Hawaii so that Emija could be sealed to her parents in the Hawaii Temple. Many of the island people from Cindy's mission were there. Cindy and I had rented a little house for the week, so we were able to feed the group each day as they came back from the temple. It was another wonderful week in Hawaii! I can't believe I went there two years in a row! It was the blessing of having a missionary daughter! We stopped in Monterey, California on the way to see Kim and his family. Their daughter, Christina, was baptized in Utah on August 3rd.

(Bowen Family 1991)

1992

I was awarded "Outstanding Teacher" by the Ricks College Alumni Association in April. It was a great honor.

Garry and I were called to be on the Ricks College Stake for five years. It was a wonderful experience to be among the college students. They were such eager, intelligent young adults who were ready to serve. 

(Ricks College Relief Society Board 1992-1997)

(Garry, Nada, Cindy, and Pam at Cindy's Graduation from Utah State University)

Cindy graduated from Utah State in June, just before my sister Beth died unexpectedly from a heart attack. She was out mowing her lawn, as her husband Reed wasn't feeling too well, and Beth liked to keep a tidy yard. When Reed didn't hear the mower come past his window, he went out to check on her and there she was. Not even her dress was messed up; she was just lying there as if she had fallen asleep! It was such a shock to all of us, as we had no idea she had been ill, just like dad's passing in 1979.

(Beth Hollist)

Kim graduated from the Air Force language school in Monterey, California at the end of June and was stationed in San Angelo, Texas for additional training. Cindy was hired as a 4th grade teacher at Kershaw Middle School in Sugar City. Then we helped Craig and Jennie move their family to Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, before their second child, Joseph, was born on October 2nd.

(Jenessa and Joseph Bowen 1992)