Obituary of Dean Richard Bowman

Dean Bowman, author, playwright, poet, selfless follower of Christ, and public school teacher for more than 40 years, passed away peacefully at home after fighting a courageous, 15-month battle with glioblastoma (brain cancer). He was 71 years old. Dean was born in Spokane, Wash., to Arthur M. Bowman II and Jane Emma Bowman. He graduated from Camden High School in San Jose, Calif., in 1963, where he was known as an exceptional student, campus leader, and an all-star quarterback and baseball pitcher. He earned an athletic scholarship to Stanford University where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in 1967 and 1968, respectively. While at Stanford, he spent a semester studying in England. Dean began his teaching career on Long Island, N.Y., in 1968. A year later, he journeyed to Alaska, where he taught at Covenant High School in the remote village of Unalakleet. Two days before leaving for Alaska, he met the love of his life, Janice Hanson, on a beach in Santa Cruz. The two corresponded via letters and, over the course of nine months and a distance of thousands of miles, fell deeply in love. They were married in Anchorage, Alaska, in December 1970. Dean and Jan moved to Scotts Valley in 1971, where they helped form Community Covenant Church. At Community Covenant, Dean taught Sunday School and Confirmation for over 40 years and served as chairman of the church. Dean also volunteered on the Santa Cruz Suicide Prevention hotline, counseling people every Monday night for 11 faithful years. As a teacher for 42 years, Dean earned awards for his various teaching and volunteering contributions, mentored dozens of young teachers, and inspired thousands of young minds. Dean's passions included reading, writing, sports, history, politics, classical music, walking his many dogs, and boogie boarding at Seacliff Beach with his Aromas School teacher friends, Erik, John, and Mike. Dean also loved traveling with Jan and his family via car all over North America, especially Canada. In his retirement years, he devoted his time to his seven grandchildren. He could be seen driving around Santa Cruz County with his five local grandchildren in tow on a daily basis. He is survived by his wife of more than 45 years, Janice Bowman of Scotts Valley; his son and daughter-in-law, Gregory and Sarah Bowman and their children, Andrew and Elizabeth, of Eugene, Oregon; his daughter and son-in-law, Alison (Bowman) and Michael Holmlund and their children, James Dean, Jude, and Eva of Santa Cruz, and his daughter and son-in-law, Ingrid (Bowman) and Zachary Adams and their children, Joshua and Naomi of Scotts Valley. He also leaves behind his brother and sister-in-law, Arthur and Barbara Bowman, his sister and brother-in-law, Kathy and Michael Holmgren and numerous nieces and nephews. Memorial gifts in Dean's honor may be directed to Community Covenant Church (2700 El Rancho Drive, Santa Cruz, CA, 95066), Mission Springs Christian Conference Center - Capital Campaign (1050 Lockhart Gulch Road, Scotts Valley, CA, 95066) or UCSF Neuro-Oncology Research - Dr. Butowski (400 Parnassus Ave #0372, San Francisco, CA 94143 or contact [email protected]). A memorial service for Dean will be held at Community Covenant Church, 2700 El Rancho Dr., Scotts Valley on Sunday, November 13, 2016 at 3 p.m.