Elaine Schneider Bowser

Mary Elaine Schneider Bowser
Age 83, died on July 26, 2025 at Arden Courts, Jefferson Hills. She was born on September 22, 1941 in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Lee Anthony and Margaret Mary (Guth) Schneider.
Elaine graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1959 and St. Francis College, Loretta, Pennsylvania in 1963 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Following graduation from college, she married her college sweetheart, Donald Steven Bowser. Elaine and Don celebrated 61 years of marriage on June 27.
Elaine began her career as a high school English teacher at Chartiers Valley High School and then spent over two decades teaching English to freshmen and seniors at Lancaster Catholic High School. Elaine was an avid reader, a passion that she passed onto her husband and daughter, Gretchen Lee (Bowser) Jankowski. She was a devout Catholic, having been an active member at St. Leo the Great Parish, Lancaster, Pennsylvania and St. Frances de Sales, Kilmarnock, Virginia. At St. Frances de Sales, she was a member of the Women of St. Frances, and she and her husband founded the annual church picnic. Both were instrumental in building the new parish hall with a restaurant-style kitchen. Elaine and Don gained their restaurant experience when they purchased and operated the Summy House Restaurant in Manheim, Pennsylvania for eight years. As a passionate cook, she was affectionately known by her friends, as the "crab lady," because of her famous Maryland Crab soup and crabcakes, which she perfected while boating on the Chesapeake Bay in Kent Island, Maryland. Elaine's crab tradition continued when she and Don built their dream retirement home in Kilmarnock, where they could catch their own crabs right from their dock. Some of her best memories included her summer pool parties, the Birthday Girls lunches, and the annual summer, extended visit with her family. Kilmarnock was the place where her granddaughters spent endless hours swimming, tubing, and learning how to pick Maryland crabs.
She is survived by her soulmate and husband, Don, her daughter, Gretchen, her son-in-law John Alan Jankowski, her two granddaughters, Elizabeth Ann and Margaret Mary Jankowski, and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be at Beinhauer Fryer Funeral & Cremation Service, 430 Washington Avenue, Bridgeville, Pennsylvania 15017 on Thursday, July 31, 2025 from 4:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 1, 2025 at Holy Child Catholic Church, 212 Station St, Bridgeville, PA 15017. Donations may be made to Arden Courts - A ProMedica Memory Care Community (Jefferson Hills), 380 Wray Large Road, Jefferson Hills, PA 15025 or to the Alzheimer's Association (https://www.alz.org/).
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