Michael A. Bowe

BELFAST - Michael A. Bowe, 73, of Belfast, passed away peacefully on Sept. 6, 2025, after a year-long battle with brain cancer.
He was well known for his kind and patient manner and was a beloved father, grandfather, uncle, and member of the Midcoast Maine community.
Michael was born in April 1952 in Baltimore to parents Richard E. and Virginia W. (Cooley) Bowe. As a child growing up on the Chesapeake Bay and Severn River, sailing and life on the water became second nature to him, and he reveled in sailing with his parents and brothers. Throughout high school and college, Michael was an avid athlete, playing lacrosse and football at Gilman School in Baltimore, where his bullheadedness on the field earned him the nickname "Iron Mike." At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, he played lacrosse and graduated with a degree in English in 1974.
After college, Michael joined his athletic interests with a dedication to service working as an instructor for the Wilderness School in Connecticut leading canoeing, backpacking, and climbing expeditions for at-risk youth. After participating in a one-month session at Hurricane Island Outward Bound, he taught sailing and other outdoor skills to adults and youth, eventually training to be a Registered Maine Guide. In the early 1980s, after completing his master's in education at the University of New Hampshire, he was waiting for a sign to permanently relocate to Maine, and found it in an opening at Georges Valley High School teaching experiential education.
Following his calling to serve, he later transitioned to a position at DHHS, supporting children and youth through adoption and foster care. After completing his master's in social work at the University of Maine, Orono in 1994, he provided counseling services at Midcoast Mental Health for over a decade, then spent the last years of his career in private practice, often driving the rural roads of Waldo County to support his clients, many of whom were home-bound seniors.
Michael and his wife, Linda, began their relationship in 1988, which included caring for Linda's children, Morgan, Sylvan and Kyle. They had a long courtship before getting married in 1995, and part of that wait had to do with Michael wishing to be the best partner and stepfather he could. It took some convincing for him to agree to have another child because he did not want to take away from the other three. In 1997, the family was most fortunate to have Emma born, and the teens took turns bouncing Emma around as she learned her way in the world. Michael imbued children with the love of the outdoors, with many camping, canoeing and swimming trips enjoyed. Michael was one of the most unassuming, kind and giving men his family ever knew, and he exhibited these qualities over the years. Their loss is huge.
Michael was known and loved for his gentle and warm personality, yet others may not know he also had a very mischievous side and was a master of corny dad jokes. If one of the children said, "I'm hungry," he always replied with, "Hi Hungry, I'm your dad." He took particular pleasure from impersonating his wife, complete with bathrobe, slippers and hair barrettes, and he played pranks on his children like feeding them mustard filled cookies. Michael loved a good pun, naming his sailboat Atta Buoy (play on Bowe) and its companion dinghy Atta Boujie, after his daughter, Emma.
From boyhood, he loved all animals and found great companionship in his cats Rusty and Owen and dogs Black Jack and Rosie. As a lifelong boat guy, Michael owned a few sailboats in Belfast Bay (read - "holes in the water that he threw money into"), and most recently simplified his life by buying his 12' Corson that he loved to putter around in with his family on the lakes of Waldo County.
Michael is survived by Linda, his wife of 30 years; children, Emma Bowe (Isabel Regonini) of San Francisco, Morgan Walton Cohen (Gabe) of Belfast and Kyle Walton of Belfast; and grandson, Rhys Cohen. He is also survived by his brothers Rick Bowe (Meg VanDeWeghe) of Bethesda, Md., and Peter Bowe (Barbara Stewart) of Annapolis, Md.; and his beloved nieces and nephews, Desmond Bowe, Hollis Bowe Hughes (Chris and daughter Ginny), Alex Bowe (Jen Morrow and children Anthony and Minnie) and Clara Bowe. He will be greeted in his next life by his eldest son, Sylvan Walton, and parents, Richard and Virginia.
A celebration of Michael's life will occur at Bayview Point Event Center, 15 Front St., Belfast, from 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that you kindly donate in Michael's memory to the not-for-profit organization Friends of Belfast Parks (P.O. Box 947, Belfast, ME 04915) toward the construction of a children's play structure on the Belfast Common (note "children's play structure" in the donation). Memories and condolences may be shared with his family on his tribute wall.