Eleanor "Bubbins" Bower

Eleanor "Bubbins" BOWER Passed away peacefully in her sleep last Sunday afternoon at the age of one hundred and one. A joy to her family and friends, she was irresistable and irrepressable, qualities that she demonstrated from the time she was young. Growing up in Chinook, Washington, Bubbins and her sister Jeanette would often take long walks to the neighboring town of Ilwaco. On one particular day when she was five, she grew tired from the walk and marched over to the nearby train tracks, waited, and when the train approached she flagged it determinedly with her white handkerchief. The train had little choice but to stop, and the young sisters rode home comfortably.Her father, Will Barrows, a political cartoonist for the Chinook Observer, once purchased a Stanley Steamer. When it arrived on the train, Bubbins and Jeanette, with their "duster" hats firmly secured, toured down mainstreet with him enjoying the wide-eyed stares of the townspeople. Unfortunately, due to the noise of the vehicle and the fact that there was no apparent way to stop it, by mutual agreement they drove it into a ditch and walked home, never to touch it again. In her twenties, Bubbins went on to earn her teaching certificate at Bellingham Normal, and her degree at the University of Washington. There she met Donald Bower, the true love of her life with whom she would enjoy a wonderful marriage of seventy-two years. Their early circumstances were difficult, however. Her sister Jeanette, by then a nurse, died on a troop ship in World War I, the last American woman to do so. They moved to Kake, Alaska, where Bubbins taught school and Don worked as an accountant for a cannery firm. In 1929, Bubbins gave birth to their daughter, Donna, but was confined to a tuberculosis hospital shortly thereafter, and only able to see Donna through the "visitor's window" for the first year of her life. Nevertheless, they persevered and prospered. Bubbins went on to teach at Laurelhurst Elementary School. She was a member of the Mary Meyers Orthopedic Guild and Women's University Club, where she gave frequent book reviews. They had an extraodinary number of long-lasting friendships, and enjoyed entertaining and traveling with their family late into their lives. Don passed away at ninety-seven, but despite Bubbins' sorrow, her energy and strong will persisted. She continued to play bridge every week with friends, and sneak away for chocolate malts with her wonderful neighbor and friend, Lorna. She also continued to rise to every occasion. At the age of ninety-nine, after years of being a zealous Mariners fan, she was invited to a Sunday afternoon game with her family. Unfortunately, several hours prior to the start, she injured herself in a bad fall. She was taken to the hospital, where she received thirteen stitches in her forehead. The doctor then informed her that she would spend several days in the hospital recovering. Bubbins wouldn't hear of it. She gathered up her things, insisted that her daughter wheel her to the car, and they were off to the game. With her usual flair for the dramatic, she arrived just before the opening pitch, a thick bandage still on her head, and during the seventh- inning stretch a full house sang "Happy 99th Birthday" to her. She will always remain in the hearts of the family she leaves behind; her daughter, Donna Todd, her grandchildren, Carrie and Peter, and great-grandchildren, Bryan, Daniel, and Molly. Bubbins never let anyone see her in low spirits. She loved babies, and parties, and laughter, and books, and she had the most incredible blue eyes. Donations in her name can be made to the Seattle Public Library.