Rex Lee Bowman
February 12, 1952 ~ December 25, 2006
Resided in:
Leicester, NC
Asheville ~ Rex Lee Bowman, 54, of Hookers Gap Road, Leicester died on Monday, December 25, 2006 in a local hospital.
He was the son of Edith Kathleen Burchell Bowman of Fort Worth, TX and of the late William Trimble. He was also the son-in-law of Robert Climer and the late Lillian Climer.
He retired from the US Army after 22 years of service and more recently had worked as director of Orthotics for 15 years at Orthopedic Appliance Company.
In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife Karin Climer Bowman of Leicester; two daughters, DeDe Bolke and her husband Kevin of Colorado Springs, CO and Billie Merriman of Arden; five grandchildren, Morgan, Tanner, Max, Benjamin and Nicholas; a sister, Bonnie Buettner and husband Karl of Canoga Park, CA; a brother William Bowman of Ft. Worth, TX.
A funeral service will be held 10:30 AM Friday in the chapel of Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian on Long Shoals Road. Burial will follow in the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery with military honors being conducted by Fort Bragg.
The family will receive friends Thursday from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at the funeral home.
View current weather.
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
I will miss the breakfast before travel league, the sports chats during bowling league and the trip for tournaments. Working with Rex in the WNCBA has been an enjoyment. I will miss my fellow lefty.
Out heartfelt sympathy goes out to the Rex Bowman family. May his memory be eternal.
Dear neighbors, we wish we had known Rex better. We will certainly miss talking to him while out in the yard, weed eating. We are sorry we missed the services for him and wish we could have attended. Please call on us if needed at all, we would be happy to help. May the Lord comfort and bless you in your time of sorrow.
condolences to the family on the loss of their dearest.
Rex was a true prince and gentlemen, my association was with him at the annual writers committee conferences for the BOC. He will be sadly missed.
I am saddened to learn of the passing of Rex Bowman. I first met Rex in 1993 when I started calling on him at Orthopedic Appliance Co. He was more than a customer, he was a friend. He would give his opinion if something did not work and stick with a product if he knew it did.
To all of his friends and family, my thoughts are with you.
Mark Root
Carolina Sports & Orthopedics Sales
I just happened to pick up the Colorado Springs newspaper today and saw Rex\\\’s obituary…what a shock. My husband, Robert Bos, worked with Rex in Germany at the Army Hospital, way back in the 70\\\’s. We both enjoyed socializing with him and his family at different functions and travels together. I didn\\\’t realize his daughter lived in Colorado Springs where we had lived for years and years. This is so sad, Rex was always a true friend to my husband and he will be deeply missed, even though we haven\\\’t been in touch over the years….a lot of great memories. Our condolences to Karin and family…keep the memories.
My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. May you know God\\\’s peace to surround and sustain you.
Daddy I Love you, I will see you again someday.
We have known Rex for many years through the bowling leagues in Asheville. We wish your family strength, peace and many happy memories to help you through this painful time.
Our love and prayers are with you.
I have only known Rex for a short while.He was a super person.Always smiling.I work at Haywood Regional Medical Center.I will miss seeing him there.
To The Family: I want you to know that I am very sorry to hear about Rex. I know him through bowling and I told him about the procedure that I had done on my eyes one night at the bowling center and he seemed so interested. He was so special and I will truly miss seeing him. May the Lord help you to cope with this terrible loss. God always knows best, even when we want to question his reasons. He doesn\\\’t have anything to worry about or suffer anymore and that\\\’s the blessing. Take Care and you will be in my prayers. Bob and Veronica Powers
Rex you will be greatly missed. You have left a big hole in our lives. God bless your family as they struggle through these dificult times. As always your voice of reason will be missed when it is needed the most.
I will truly miss seeing Rex and being his Lane Server at Star Lanes. I enjoyed his friendship and his quiet sense of humor. My daddy died in March during the State Tournament season and Rex\\\’s words were of great comfort to me. I can especially understand what his daughter is going through. God will bless you and give you strength during this terribly difficult time.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time. We at Orthomerica really enjoyed working with Rex and he will be greatly missed.
I work for Orthomerica Products, in Orlando, Florida, and I became quite close to Rex and spoke with Rex at least once a week. Besides business we spoke of his love of Asheville and his family.
My husband and I travel to North Carolina every fall to see the fall foliage and I mentioned to Rex that this year we might be stopping by to visit with him on our way to Blowing Rock, NC. He said \\\come on by and I will buy you dinner\\\’. We ended up taking a different route and now I can only look back and wish that we took the Asheville route in order to spend time with Rex. I will miss his phone calls and our conversations. My deepest sympathy to all of his family and friends. Sincerely Mardean Knott
I work for Orthomerica Products, in Orlando, Florida, and I became quite close to Rex and spoke with Rex at least once a week. Besides business we spoke of his love of Asheville and his family. and now I can only look back and wish that we took the Asheville route in order to spend time with Rex.
My husband and I travel to North Carolina every fall to see the fall foliage and I mentioned to Rex that this year we might be stopping by to visit with him on our way to Blowing Rock, NC. He said \\\come on by and I will buy you dinner\\\’. We ended up taking a different route I will miss his phone calls and our conversations. My deepest sympathy to all of his family and friends. Sincerely Mardean Knott
We were so saddened to hear of your loss. Through bowling we have known Rex and Karin for several years. I don\\\’t think we are ever prepared for such a shock and we wanted you all to know that you are in our thoughts. Only God can give the comfort that you will need through his Son Jesus. Lean on Him during this time…and know that the friends around you will be lifting you up in their constant prayers.
I called on Rex at Orthopedic Appliance Co for 3 years and will really miss him. My prayers go out to the family.Harold Varn Orthomerica sales rep.
All of us at Asheville Prosthetic Center are saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague. You are in our thoughts and prayers.
Rex-
You were such a wonderful person to work with on the BOC board and you will be greatly missed by all of us. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family!
Our deepest sympathy, thoughts and prayers are with your family.
Your service to those less fortunate is a blessing to us all.
Rex serve on the BOC Board of Directors for years. He will be missed.
Jim Newberry IED BOC
Rex will be missed by all that knew him
To the Family of Rex Bowman. I want to share our thoughts and prayers to the family. Rex provided a great service to his Country and to his community. He was a blessing to be personally by assisting me in my time of need. We will miss his professionalism and service to the people of Western North Carolina. God Bless you and keep you during this time.
Harold and Wanda Crisp
I knew Rex from the BOC item writers meetings and had great respect for him, his knowledge and his character. He attended one of my courses just a couple of months ago. He will be missed a lot. My sincere condolences to his entire family.
bob
How quickly and unexpectedly a life can be taken…I am so sorry that I couldn\\\’t make it out to the funeral. My thoughts and prayers go out to you all. Rex, you will be missed terribly! You were a great father, grandfather, uncle, and brother. I wish we had all been a little closer throughout the years. You always assume that there will be time for that. Take care everyone. I will be thinking about you all in this very sad time! Love, Celisa
I was sadden to hear about the loss of Rex Bowman. I had the privilege of working with Rex on the Board of Directors for BOC. He was an asset to the board and the industry, he will be missed. My prayers go out to his friends and family. May they feel the comfort of the Holy Spirit during their time of sorrow.
Gods Peace
Wendy Miller
I will miss Rex we talk a lot and he was a very good friend to me I work with Rex at OAC we all had a good time their my pray go out to the family and may god bless you all Linda King Branch
I worked with Rex providing Orthotic care to the residents who live at the J. Iverson Riddle Dev. Center in Morganton before my retirement from there last year. He was wonderful to work with and he was great with those folks with special needs. He was patient & kind & always willing to work around their, sometimes, unpredictable schedules. He established a relationship with many of them and they looked forward to his visits & receiving \\\new shoes.\\\’ I myself learned a lot from Rex about Orthotics that I continue to use in my work in Geriatrics. I know the residents and staff will greatly miss him and the quality service he provided. Please know that you are in my prayers during this most difficult time.
With Love \\\’JuneBug\\\”
I was really shocked and sad to hear about Rex. He was a good man. I knew him through bowling. We both really loved dogs and I will miss our talks on’our dogs’, other dog stories and about helping dogs needing to be rescued/saved etc. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Thank you for all of the years of dedicated service to the O&P community. You were a great friend and colleague, I miss you. My prayers are with you and your family.
JR Brandt, Immediate Past Chairman, B.O.C.
I will miss the breakfast before travel league, the sports chats during bowling league and the trip for tournaments. Working with Rex in the WNCBA has been and enjoyment. I will miss my fellow lefty.