Mom teaches kids how to pole vault in backyard
Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 8:50 pm
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Army Corps veteran proud of her service
SWANTON - Alice L. Bowser, a Women's Army Corps veteran of World War II who later operated a cleaning service for several tenants at Toledo Express Airport, died Sunday in St. Luke's Hospital. She was 84.
Mrs. Bowser died of a stroke suffered Saturday, Karen Zeller, a daughter, said.
Mrs. Zeller described her mother as an unconventional person who liked music and dancing "and a good joke."
She taught her two oldest children how to pole vault by doing it herself, vaulting a clothesline in their backyard, and taught a younger child how to ride a unicycle.
For about 10 years, ending in 1984, Mrs. Bowser had the janitorial contract for United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration at the airport. Mrs. Zeller said her mother got the work after a cleaning service she previously worked for didn't seek to renew its contract, so she put in her own bid.
Mrs. Bowser once took flying lessons, but her aviation career ended when she got lost on her solo flight to Columbus and wound up at an airport near Dayton, Mrs. Zeller said.
During World War II, Mrs. Bowser worked for about two years as a WAC coding clerk in Dayton. Mrs. Zeller said her mother was proud of her service to her country and attended both a 50-year reunion and the 1997 dedication of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Mrs. Bowser's husband of 39 years, Clifford Wayne Bowser, died in 1984.
Surviving are her sons, Jim, Joe, and Jerry Bowser; daughters, Sandra Scherf, Karen Zeller, Beverly Hayden, Diane Bowser, and Gail Blair; sister, Ann Towne; 21 grandchildren, and 22 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Weigel Funeral Home, Swanton, where visitation will begin at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
The family suggests tributes to New Horizon Community Church, Delta, Ohio.
Army Corps veteran proud of her service
SWANTON - Alice L. Bowser, a Women's Army Corps veteran of World War II who later operated a cleaning service for several tenants at Toledo Express Airport, died Sunday in St. Luke's Hospital. She was 84.
Mrs. Bowser died of a stroke suffered Saturday, Karen Zeller, a daughter, said.
Mrs. Zeller described her mother as an unconventional person who liked music and dancing "and a good joke."
She taught her two oldest children how to pole vault by doing it herself, vaulting a clothesline in their backyard, and taught a younger child how to ride a unicycle.
For about 10 years, ending in 1984, Mrs. Bowser had the janitorial contract for United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration at the airport. Mrs. Zeller said her mother got the work after a cleaning service she previously worked for didn't seek to renew its contract, so she put in her own bid.
Mrs. Bowser once took flying lessons, but her aviation career ended when she got lost on her solo flight to Columbus and wound up at an airport near Dayton, Mrs. Zeller said.
During World War II, Mrs. Bowser worked for about two years as a WAC coding clerk in Dayton. Mrs. Zeller said her mother was proud of her service to her country and attended both a 50-year reunion and the 1997 dedication of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Mrs. Bowser's husband of 39 years, Clifford Wayne Bowser, died in 1984.
Surviving are her sons, Jim, Joe, and Jerry Bowser; daughters, Sandra Scherf, Karen Zeller, Beverly Hayden, Diane Bowser, and Gail Blair; sister, Ann Towne; 21 grandchildren, and 22 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Weigel Funeral Home, Swanton, where visitation will begin at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
The family suggests tributes to New Horizon Community Church, Delta, Ohio.