Ruth Bowden Obituary

BOWDEN, Ruth Ruth B. Bowden, 89, died on Monday, April 23, 2007, at The Regional Hospital Center, Orangeburg, South Carolina. Arrangements will be handled by FIELDING HOME FOR FUNERALS of Charleston. A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Saturday, April 28, at 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Episcopal Church, 106 Line Street, in Charleston, South Carolina. Born Ruth Beatrice Burley, she was the ninth of ten children to Thomas Burley and Lizzie Hoye in Dawkins, South Carolina, on August 9, 1917. She spent her childhood years in Dawkins and was schooled at their rural family homestead by teachers brought in for their tutored primary education. Her teenage years were spent in Columbia, South Carolina, where she attended Booker T. Washington High School before enrolling, as a freshman, at South Carolina State College where she met John Theodore Bowden of Great Falls, South Carolina. After John's graduation, they were married on the fourth of July in 1936. In the early years of their marriage, while living in Great Falls and Columbia, they were blessed with three children John Jr., Gary and Audrey. In 1943 they moved their young family to Charleston, where John found post-war employment as an electrician at the Charleston Navy Yard. As a devoted wife and mother, Ruth's life in Charleston evolved mainly around caring for her husband and the raising of their children. The family joined Calvary Episcopal Church where she served for over 35 years as a teacher at Calvary's Kindergarten, molding the young minds of hundreds of Charleston preschoolers. She was a member of the Vagarettes Social Club and the Les Bon Temps Bridge Club. After the death of her husband of 55 years, she moved to Orangeburg to be near her son John and his family and became a faithful member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Her nurturing spirit was reflected in her dedicated role as a wife, mother, grandmother, homemaker, teacher and friend. She enjoyed being outdoors and spent countless hours, in her advancing years, meticulously tending to her home and garden. She is predeceased by her only daughter, Audrey Greene of Hampton, Virginia. She is survived by two sisters, Elizabeth Middleton of Columbia nd Helen Scott of Capahosic, Virginia; two sons, (Colonel Retired) John Theodore Bowden, Jr., of Orangeburg and Gary Arnett Bowden of Baltimore, Maryland; two daughters-in-law, Ruth Gallman Bowden and Sandra Pezant Bowden and one son-in-law (Dr.) Arthur David Greene of Hampton, Virginia; seven grandsons and one granddaughter; along with seven more great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter and a host of nieces, nephews, extended family and dear friends. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be sent to either Calvary Episcopal Church, 106 Line St., Charleston, SC 29403 or St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1170 Watson St., Orangeburg, SC 29115. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.