David Bartholomew Bowman

1928 - 2017

David Bartholomew Bowman

Beloved husband, father, colleague and friend, David Bartholomew Bowman died April 15, 2017 at the age of 88. Born November 5, 1928 in Lancaster PA, David was the sixth of seven children born to David B. Bowman and Loretta Ganse Bowman. Following the untimely death of his father in 1933, five-year-old David and his older brother Frank were enrolled in the Milton Hershey Industrial School for orphaned or fatherless boys established by industrialist M.S. Hershey and his wife in Hershey PA. It was a strenuous but wholesome life. The boys rose at 5:00 AM to milk the cows that provided milk for Hershey chocolate products and worked in the cornfields that provided silage for the cows. A scholar / athlete, David excelled in basketball and baseball, and played piano in the orchestra and jazz band. He was Valedictorian of his class. During his time at Hershey, he and his mother began exchanging weekly letters, a practice they continued until her death years later at 91. In 1979, he was honored by the School as Alumnus of the Year.

When he graduated in 1946, he was given a new suit of clothes, $100, and sent into the world. That same month, he enlisted in the US Navy where he trained as an electronics technician at Great Lakes Naval Training School, later serving in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Midway. He was honorably discharged in 1949 and enrolled at Franklin & Marshall College on the GI Bill. He later transferred to Pomona College where he majored in History, graduating magna cum laude in 1953.

While at Pomona he met his future wife, Midge. Much of their courtship was spent in the Music Building practice rooms playing piano duets. Their mutual enjoyment of music, particularly making music together, continued throughout their long and loving married life. They married during Midge's senior year, then both attended Yale, where Midge earned an MA and David his LLB.

In 1957, they moved to Seattle where they settled in Magnolia and David was hired by the firm of Ryan, Askren, Matthewson, Carlson and Bush now known as Ryan Law. Daughter Megan Jane was born in 1960 and son Matthew David in 1963.

He joined Alaska Airlines as General Counsel in 1962 and, two years later, began his long career with the Lockheed Corporation (now Lockheed Martin) as Company Counsel for its shipbuilding and heavy construction subsidiary in Seattle. In 1983, he was appointed Secretary of the Lockheed Corporation which involved a transfer to the corporate offices in Los Angeles. He retired in 1990 as Vice-President-Secretary and Assistant General Counsel of the Corporation.

David was a devoted husband and father, an avid fan of all sports, especially baseball and the Pittsburgh Pirates, and a great lover of classical music. A deeply quiet and thoughtful man, he was the epitome of kindness and intelligence.

He leaves his wife of 62 years Midge (Elsa), daughter Megan, son Matthew (Carolyn Kato), grandsons Henry A. Bowman, Sean Y. Bowman, and Miles A. Ajemian, and numerous relatives in the Lancaster, PA area.