Annis Hilty Bowen

Annis Kay Hilty Bowen, age 100, passed away peacefully on February 11, 2024, in Houston, TX. Annis was born in Houston on May 13, 1923 to Marguerite Kate Neuhaus and Leonard Franklin Hilty. She attended Poe Elementary, Lanier Middle School, and was one of the first graduates of Lamar High School. Annis attended the University of Texas at Austin where she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and met William Jackson "Jack" Bowen, her husband of 65 years.

She modeled in New York City and worked at Humble Oil while Jack completed his education at West Point. They were married the day after his graduation and spent the next several years living in Okinawa, Japan, where they had their first child, Shelley. After returning to Texas, they lived in Dallas, where Barbara and then Berry were born, followed by Will, born in Houston. Annis and Jack moved their young family to Winter Park, Florida for Jack's career. Annis remembered their years in Winter Park as some of her happiest times. There they made lifelong friends and Annis started her involvement with the Junior League and became an avid tennis player. They moved back to Houston in the seventies for Jack's role at Transco. Annis and Jack bought a ranch in Carmine, Texas -- Gator Creek Ranch -- where they loved to host friends and family. At the ranch, she could be found picking dewberries and wildflowers, spotting birds from the back porch, fishing in the lakes, and cooking her famous pancake breakfasts.

While Texas was always home, Annis loved to see other places and eagerly took any opportunity to travel the world. In her final days, Annis spoke fondly of how she had been everywhere she ever wanted, from Brazil to India, Australia to Panama, Africa, Russia, and China. Annis was involved in the church her whole life, from her childhood at Palmer Episcopal Church to many years spent as a lay reader for St. John the Divine, and a dedicated knitter for their prayer shawl ministry. She was also a keen bridge and gin rummy player, a devoted Astros fan, a talented needlepointer, an accomplished tennis player and golfer, and an voracious reader of the mystery novels with which her grandchildren kept her well supplied.

Annis is survived by her three children, Dr. Shelley Bowen Hatfield of Palo Alto, CA, Barbara and husband James Cauble of Carmine, TX, and William Jackson Bowen Jr. and wife Amy Moore of Florida, as well as her ten grandchildren Marguerite and husband Dr. Hari Radhakrishnan, Berry Hatfield and wife Lisa Joyce, Adele and husband Dr. Geoff Horwitz, Susie and husband Payson Tucker, Adam Cauble and wife Emma Cruise, Lizzy Bowen and husband Michael Hardy, Haley and husband Michael Lehfeldt, Hilty Bowen, Jackson Bowen, and Max Bowen; as well as great-grandchildren Emily and Anna Radhakrishnan, Jamie and Danny Horwitz, Eliot and Florence Tucker, and Teddy Lehfeldt.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack; parents; brother Leonard Franklin Hilty; and son, Berry Dunbar Bowen.

The family wishes to thank the staff at the Hallmark and Dr. Hari Radhakrishnan for their attentive and loving care, and Bertha Flores for many years of selfless service and companionship.

There will be a memorial service for the family at St. John the Divine Church where The Rev. Dr. Doug Richnow, Priest Associate, will officiate.

In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions in her name may be directed to the Houston Zoo or the charity of one's choice.