William S. Bowers

William S. Bowers, age 93, of Ottawa, Kansas, died Friday, March 4, 2011, at his residence. He was born on May 30, 1917, in Ottawa, the son of Ben F. and Carrie (Sheldon) Bowers. He attended Ottawa public schools and graduated from Ottawa High School in 1935 and Ottawa University in 1939. He received his juris doctorate from the University of Kansas School Of Law in February, 1942. He practiced law in partnership with his father as Bowers & Bowers until 1969. He was later a law partner in Bowers and Sheldon, Chartered. As a licensed abstracter and in affiliation with his law firms, he operated Franklin County Abstract and Title. He retired from law practice and the land title business in 2002. Mr. Bowers served as Franklin County attorney from 1951 through 1954, and in the Kansas Senate 1957 through 1968. He was a member of the Franklin County and Kansas Bar Associations. He served as president of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and Ottawa Industrial Development Committee. Mr. Bowers was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, where he served on the session as an elder and on the finance committee. He was instrumental in establishing the Westminster Presbyterian Church Endowment Fund, was active in the church Builders fellowship group and served as commissioner to the 1990 Presbyterian General Assembly. Mr. Bowers held life memberships in Veterans of Foreign Wars; Warren Black Post #60, American Legion; and Ottawa Lodge #803, Elks; was a Paul Harris Fellow of the Ottawa Rotary Club; and member of Ottawa Masonic Lodge and Abdallah Shrine. Mr. Bowers served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy from 1942 through 1946 as an officer aboard the destroyer USS Coghlan in the Bering Sea, the western Pacific, the Saipan-Tinian invasions, and in the south Pacific. He also served aboard the light cruiser USS Providence in the Mediterranean area at the conclusion of World War II. Mr. Bowers and Virginia Jean Ott were married October 9, 1948, in Ottawa. Survivors include his wife; daughter, Carolyn, and her husband, Charles Babcock, Washington D.C.; daughter, Margaret Morris, Green Mountain Falls, Colorado; son, Chris Bowers and his wife, Cindy, New Braunfels, Texas; son, Bill Bowers and his wife, Tammy, Lawrence, Kansas; son, Burt Bowers, Ottawa; grandchildren, Chris Morris and his wife, Angela; Carrie, Katie and Ellie Babcock; Chris Bowers and his wife, Erin; LeeAnn Bowers and her husband, Aldo De La Garza; Tava Cook and her husband, Billy; Melissa and Kelcy Bowers; and great-granddaughter, Clara Cook. Mr. Bowers was cremated and a private family inurnment was held at Highland Cemetery in Ottawa. The family suggests memorial contributions to Westminster Presbyterian Church Endowment Fund or Ottawa Rotary Club Foundation, c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067.