In Memory - Jean Bowman

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to dear Jean Bowman. She was a member of the Helena Rotary club in 1988-1991 and was the first woman club president in 1997-98. She moved to Missoula and became a beloved member of our club. Jean was passionate about leaving a legacy through her service in Rotary and was serving recently as our Sergeant of Arms and served on the Foundation board. Below is the obituary from the Missoulian. Jean will be missed by all.

MISSOULA – Jean Louise McArthur Bowman, 77, passed away Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, from breast cancer at her home in Missoula. She was surrounded by her children and went bravely, peacefully and with dignity. Jean was born on April 3, 1938, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Charlotte Louise and David Livingstone McArthur. She attended the University of New Mexico and married Warren Daniel Bowman Jr., in 1958, after which they resided in Philadelphia and Billings. They had five children, Douglas Frederick, Carolyn Louise, Joan Emily, Amy Elizabeth and Eric Daniel.

Besides being a devoted mother, Jean was passionate about and committed to a number of political, civic, and educational causes. Jean was a delegate and secretary of the Montana State Constitutional Convention, a trustee at Rocky Mountain College, a director of the Billings Area Chamber of Commerce and a director at 1st Bank West in Billings. After moving to Missoula in 1980, Jean graduated with high honors in political science from the University of Montana in 1982, where she also received a law degree in 1985. She then clerked for Chief Justice John Harrison of the Montana Supreme Court until 1987, when she became executive vice president of St. Peter’s Community Hospital Foundation in Helena. Jean continued as executive director of the Harrison Hospital Foundation in Bremerton, Washington, and St. Patrick Hospital & Health Sciences Foundation in Missoula. She was a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Missoula and was its first female president.

Jean created and maintained many social connections and did much to create stronger communities during her life in Montana. Her skill, hard work and compassion raised millions of dollars for the arts, land preservation, and hospitals, and made possible the opening of St. Patrick House in Missoula in 1999. She was committed to the work of Five Valleys Land Trust to preserve Montana for those who come after her. She founded Legacy Montana in 2000, inspiring many people to donate to Montana nonprofit organizations. After retiring from St. Patrick Hospital in 2005, Jean continued community work as the Board Chair of Missoula Aging Services, was a volunteer educator and council member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Montana, tutored at Hellgate High School, and was President of the Missoula Symphony Association and Missoula’s International Choral Festival.

Jean is survived by her sister Katherine Anne Enns; her children, Carolyn Bowman, Joan (Mark) Siegel, Amy (Gonzalo) Surraco and Eric (Ellen) Lennon Bowman; and her grandchildren, Joaquin, Lucia, Sarah, Anna, Zephyr and Gandon. She was preceded in death by her first son, Douglas Frederick and her brother David Livingstone McArthur. Her children are honored and grateful to have grown up with a woman so full of integrity, grace, intelligence and wit. Her ashes will be spread at her beloved East Rosebud Lake in the Beartooth Mountains, where her family has gathered for decades. The family asks that donations be made in her memory to Five Valleys Land Trust, Missoula Aging Services, or to your charity of choice.

Funeral services will be held at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Missoula at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8. A reception will follow at the church.