William Lee "Bill" Bowler

William "Bill" Lee Bowler was born October 23,1946 in Fowler, Kansas. Bill was the son of Harley William "Bill" and Virginia Lee "Ginny" Bowler. Bill was preceded in death by both of his parents, his brother Billy George and premature twin brothers, his sister Willa Dean Naugle, his wife Cheryl Bowler and his stepson Scott Matthews. His surviving siblings are Myrl Leon 'Sandy" Bowler, Marion Elmo Bowler, Kay Lynn "Katy" Ward and Gail Marie Williams. Bill is survived by his wife Onari Bowler and his two sons and their families. Todd and Chere' Bowler, granddaughters Avery and Karsyn. Blair and Jennifer Bowler, grandchildren Sabrina Bowler, Blake Bowler, Destinee Hilton, Brittanee Horton and her husband Joey and great grandchildren Isaiah Preciado and Ambriellah Horton.

Bill's family moved to California and Oregon after his birth for his early years before returning to Springfield, Missouri. Bill was saved at 12 years old in 1958 at Highstreet Baptist Church. After attending Reed Middle School, he started high school at Central High and went on to become part of the first graduating class of Glendale High School in 1964. After graduation he enrolled in Southwest Missouri State College. While in college Bill married Kathleen Wolkins in 1966. Bill joined Army ROTC and was an enormously proud member of the "Bear Battalion." He earned a Distinguished Military Science Graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and a Military Science Minor on January 18th, 1969, and the Army sent him to Hanau, Germany as a Finance Disbursing Officer. While stationed there Kathleen gave birth to their first son, William Todd Bowler. After his honorable discharge as a Captain from the Army, he moved back to Springfield, Missouri and worked with his father who owned B & R Well Drilling. Not long after on March 30th, 1972, Kathleen gave birth to their second son, Christopher Blair Bowler. Bill's outgoing personality and competitive nature eventually led him into a sales career where he sold pharmaceuticals, real estate, oil products and eventually chemicals. Due to his work ethic, success in sales and leadership skills he was hired as the Branch Manager at Van Waters and Rogers (which became Univar) and turned a small branch into one of the most successful branches in the region. He developed lifelong friendships with colleagues and customers during many of these sales roles, and those same people continued to support him his entire life. Bill was involved within the community as a member of many organizations including Board of Directors of Southwest Missouri State University Alumni Board, Board of Directors Heart of the Ozarks Sertoma Club, Member of Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite, and Abou Ben Adhem Shrine and of The Springs Church. Bill retired in 2008.

In 1992 Bill married Onari Matthews. Bill and Onari loved to travel around our great country. They were fortunate to have traveled to all forty-eight lower states over several years in their RV's. They both enjoyed the open road and meeting new people and experiencing new things. About a year after Bill officially retired, he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He approached this battle as he had everything else in life, head on and full steam ahead. His determination to do everything he could to beat cancer was never more evident than the fact that he walked a mile each and every day on his hospital floor while he went through 2 rounds of chemotherapy as they tried to locate a stem cell donor. No one had ever done this before at Barnes Hospital. With God's healing hand and Onari's guidance he was able to enjoy 16 more years with his friends and family. Bill was so proud to be a graduate of Southwest Missouri State College and had been an avid supporter of Bears athletics since the late 1970's. He truly enjoyed being around people as was evident by the almost 50 years he met with a group of guys almost weekly for coffee at different locations. At one point they basically had their own table at Steak-N-Shake where they would solve the world's problems. Bill had been an Honorary Coach at the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions for 35 years and always felt it was an honor to do so. Bill was always willing to help people in need and often did so unnoticed because it was the right thing to do not for the attention. He often went back to Barnes Hospital to share his story and encourage others who were going through a similar situation. As his body started to give out, he continued to battle as long as he could. While the last year was filled with many challenges, we were always thankful to have him in our presence. With little strength or energy after so many years of battle, his personality continued to shine through by trying to crack jokes with the many friends and family that came to visit him up until the last day. On Friday September 26th, 2025, Bill went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Funeral service will be Friday, October 3, 2025 at 12:00 PM at The Springs Church. A visitation will be from 10:30 AM to service time at the church. Burial with military honors will follow at Missouri Veterans Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider becoming a stem cell donor where you might be able to impact someone's life like Bill's was or a donation to the Harley William Bowler Memorial Scholarship at Missouri State University that benefits an ROTC student, MSU Foundation, 300 S. Jefferson, Springfield, Missouri 65806.