Remembering Bruce Bowker

From the first week that we published the Osawatomie Journal, volunteer help has been vital to our success.
Each week since we started, a group of local people have gathered to help us roll papers and deliver them. The process week one took us about 14 hours, now we can deliver papers in Osawatomie and Louisburg in just over four.
These dedicated people come by just to talk and laugh. They tease each other, throw papers across the office and eat a lot. In other words, we all have a great time and it does not feel much like work.
This weekend we lost one of those volunteers. Bruce Bowker died at his home. Even though he had battled some health issues over the past few years, his passing was a shock.
I have known Bruce for as long as I can remember. His son Scott and I were friend in school at Paola and we were in the same graduating class. Bruce and my dad coached our baseball team when I was 10 or 11. They were a good combination.
When we were planning to start the Journal, Bruce would sit with my Dad and I at the YMCA and weigh in on what we should do. He was never at a loss for an opinion and some of the things we are doing  today are a direct result of our conversations.
At the office on Wednesdays, Bruce would always share a joke or a funny story he had heard. He talked a lot about sports, especially when his grandkids were involved.
Bruce wasn’t perfect and he would be the first to tell you that, but he loved his friends and family. We will miss him around the office, not because he worked for free, but because he was a great guy.
Our prayers go out to his family as they deal with their loss.
­—Jeff Gulley

Short URL: http://osawatominews.com/?p=275

Posted by admin on Sep 8 2010. Filed under News and Updates, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry