Ben Bowie

The world is a less gracious and loving place with the death of Ben Bowie at 103. He was a quiet, modest man who charmed everyone he met. You weren’t a friend of Ben but rather a member of his extended family.

He was born in 1922 to Benjamin Edwards, Sr and Guion Turner Bowie in Vicksburg. He was the third of four children (Elizabeth, Guion, Paul) and the last survivor of his generation. College at Ole Miss ended with a Masters Degree in history. A stint in World War Two was served in the 11th Airborne Division as chief of security in a Northern Japanese city. Upon his return to Mississippi, a blind date was arranged with a young lady who would have preferred to wash her hair that night. She relented and Ben met the love of his life and the longest pair of legs he had ever seen, Lyda Ann Pace. He proposed with Dixie Beer and onion rings. They were married in November 1948. Ben would serve as a school principal and area manager for Southern Airways before settling in New Orleans and starting his own business. He didn’t hide in the office but was out with his Cleaning and Maintenance Systems crews. When he decided he would do something, he went all out. He didn’t grow a few tomatoes, he built raised beds and grew tomatoes, beans, lettuce, corn and anything else he could find. He surprised his family by retiring in his late 60s. No one expected him to do much but putter around. For not the last time, he proved everyone wrong. He built a bigger garden, went from a casual bridge player to championship level, traveled with his beloved wife and volunteered with several organizations. He went back to college and wrote a play later produced by the University of New Orleans. Repeated New Orleans floods convinced Ben and Lyda that Lafayette was higher ground. He didn’t change his habits, New house meant a bigger garden. He delivered food to people 25 years his junior for Meals on Wheels. He stopped building for Habitat For Humanity when he fell off a roof at 80. His love of children led him to volunteer at the Lafayette Children's Museum. This gig earned him state wide recognition with an Angel Award.

He was the father of three, Benjamin Edwards Bowie III (Cheryl Taylor Bowie), James Pace Bowie (Patricia Barbin Bowie) and Gordon Paul Bowie (Anna Edelman Bowie); grandfather of four, Dani O’Hara Moore (Dale Moore), Amy Bowie Fountain (Brent Fountain), Chas Bowie and Brad Bowie (Melissa Dupreast) and six great grandchildren (Dominic Moore, Duncan Moore, Jack Fountain, Daphne Moore, Derek Moore and Joe Fountain). Special mention needs to be made of Mary Nolan, mother of two of his grandchildren and a long time close friend. You never left Ben’s family. Always a wonderful father, something changed when he became Gramps. He set a very high bar on how to be a grandparent.

A funeral service will be held in the Sunrise Chapel at Walters Funeral Home on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.  A visitation will be held before the service from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Habitat for Humanity, the Lafayette Children's Museum or Lafayette Public Library Foundation endowment or any good liberal cause designed to make the world a better place. Tell those around you that you love them, he ended every family conversation with those words. Have a glass of cheap red wine or bourbon and think of the quiet modest man who deeply touched the lives of everyone he knew.

Walters Funeral Home (2424 N. University Ave in Lafayette) is in charge of funeral arrangements.