BGSU grad taught in Fremont for 25 years

10/12/2007

FREMONT Barbara Ann Bowes, 81, who taught at Fremont s Stamm Elementary School for more than 25 years, died Monday in Elmwood Assisted Living of Fremont.

Mrs. Bowes suffered complications from heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said Jane Bowes, a daughter. The Fremont woman had lived in Elmwood since May.

Primarily a fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Bowes had a bachelor s degree in education from Bowling Green State University, and she retired in 1988.

She was especially interested in English and math, and she would remark that she wouldn t want to vote for a presidential candidate who didn t use proper grammar, her daughter, Margo Capucini, said.

Though her family would tease her about using her demanding schoolteacher voice, the Jeopardy! game-show and crossword-puzzle fan loved teaching, she said.

She loved the kids, said Mrs. Capucini, adding that she enjoyed talking to former students.

Wherever we would go, she would run into people who were former students.

Ms. Bowes said her mother was supportive when she divorced 11 years ago, and encouraged Ms. Bowes daughter, Sarah Warring, to go to college.

While neither daughter wanted to teach, Mrs. Warring followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, who took her to her freshman orientation in BGSU and showed her different spots on campus.

Mrs. Warring remembered as a toddler visiting Stamm Elementary with her grandfather, then having lunch with her grandparents.

I always kind of wanted to be a teacher it was fun to go to my grandmother s work, said the Northwood Middle School teacher, who sought her grandmother s teaching advice early in her own career.

Mrs. Warring added: She was always just a good influence in my life, always just someone to look up to.

Born Dec. 9, 1925 in Mason, Mich., Mrs. Bowes was a 1943 Fremont Ross graduate. On July 1, 1950, she married John W. Bowes, who died in 1989.

Mrs. Bowes collected Warwick China and enjoyed antiquing with her husband and, after his death, her daughter, Mrs. Capucini.

She was interested in her family s Scottish heritage, and recounted the story of how her Chicago-bound ancestors settled in the area after their money was stolen and their Lake Erie ship wrecked in a storm, she said.

She was a member of St. Paul s Episcopal Church, Fremont, and the Retired Teachers Association. Mrs. Bowes also was a 50-year Eastern Star member and a Past Worthy Matron.

Surviving are her daughters, Jane Bowes and Margo Capucini; a brother, Don Rhodes, and three grandchildren.

The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. today in St. Paul s Episcopal Church. Keller-Ochs-Koch Funeral Home, Fremont, is handling arrangements.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Memorial Hospital, Fremont, or the American Heart Association.