Long-time Detroit resident, Edward Ethan Bowman, 84, died Feb. 25, 2024. He was born Feb. 25, 1940, in Hood River.
Ed was raised in Oregon City and Estacada. In the middle of his senior year of high school he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, and from 1957 – 1962 he served all over the Far East. After his honorable discharge, he worked many jobs including SP&S Railroad, Fred Meyer as an assistant food manager, U.S. Forest Service fighting forest fires, Page and Page trailers, Willamette Iron & Steel, and with his brother Bill, in the restaurant and motel business. He found his long-term niche with ODOT, retiring as a section coordinator in Detroit from a 25-year career. In retirement he had a home security service, answering alarms and caretaking summer homes.
Ed and his wife, Debra, made their home in Detroit for 47 years. The couple traveled to Europe for a month in 2000. They enjoyed time on Detroit Lake in their boat, Weird I, and RV camping. Ed was a fisherman, and his many hobbies included rock tumbling and collecting antiques, memorabilia, stamps and coins.
Ed loved working with his hands doing rockwork, building walls and decks, and carpentry in general. He loved the woods. He cut firewood and felled trees on his property, piling brush and limbs and burning piles as needed.
His work as a commissioner of emergency preparedness during the winter of 2008-09, earned Ed the American Red Cross Crisis Hero Award. He served as a Detroit city councilor for four years.
He is survived by his wife, Debra Bowman; daughters, Raylene Ralston of Salem and Susan Bowman of Grants Pass; sons, Todd Bowman of Grants Pass and Daniel Bowman of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 13 grandchildren; and his twin brother, Allen Bowman of Portland.
Ed was predeceased by his parents and stepfather; siblings, Bill Bowman and Eleanor Krause; stepsister, Ilma Tomlin; son, Evan Bowman; and one grandchild.
He was committed to being a good community citizen and volunteered for years cleaning and maintaining Hill Street and Mackey Lane.
He loved being busy, the home he and his wife built together, and his wife, Debra, who he said gave him the happiest years of his life.
