William Taylor Bowman's Obituary
William Taylor Bowman of Lantana, TX, born May 16, 1938 in Elkton, MD passed away April 8, 2023.
Funeral services will take place Saturday, April 29th at 10 am at the Restland Funeral Home Wildwood Chapel in Dallas, with visitation on Friday April 28th from 5 to 8 pm.
Bill was a graduate of Hereford High School in Hereford MD and the Class of ’56 reunions will never be the same.
A Corporal in the US Marine Corps serving from 1958 to 1962, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and served in Italy and the Philippines. As a result of his service, he received Sharpshooter and Good Conduct Medals, lifelong friends Wes and Janice Carr and a questionable tattoo of a bulldog with a saber through its head.
Luckily for him, Eileen Szymanski of Baltimore MD married him on Sept 29, 1963. Their union resulted in son Bill Jr and daughter Julie. The couple was due to celebrate their 60th anniversary this year.
Bill worked as a salesman for Consolidated Cigar/Altadis USA for 40 years, which suited his big personality just fine. In 1975, he was promoted and transferred from Maryland to Irving, TX to manage sales throughout Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. He retired in 2002.
He was an avid gardener with a ridiculous talent for growing tomatoes—the competition between him and Irving neighbor John Ingram was legendary—and other neighbors often found bags of tomatoes deposited on their doorsteps overnight just so he could get them out of the house.
He was a faithful member of St Luke’s Catholic Church in Irving and a 3rd degree Knight at Knights of Columbus Council 5243, where the Bowmans were the 1989 Family of the Year. At the Knights hall, he often broke into song with friend Ben Canales, performing his favorites of Tom T Hall’s Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine as well as the spanish classic Por Un Amor, in which he illustrated over and over that he did not know spanish.
After moving to Lantana, TX, he was a parishioner of St Philip The Apostle Catholic Church of Lewisville. And for 17 years, he was a beloved marshall and the Saturday morning starter at Lantana Golf Course, where he was known for his boisterous wit and love of laughter.
Bill is preceded in death by parents Courtney and Ada Bowman, sisters Jane Stime and Nancy Hale, brother Charles “Ronny” Bowman, and son-in-law Todd Price. He is survived by wife Eileen of Lantana, TX, son Bill, daughter-in-law Carol and grandson Brady of Broomfield CO, daughter Julie Bowman Price of Dallas, TX, grandson Morgan Price and wife Sarah of El Reno, OK, granddaughter Nicole Bagwell and husband Austin of Oklahoma City, nephew Tom Bowman of Phoenix MD, nephew Eric Wedemeyer and wife Beth of Pasadena MD, great nephew Eric Wedemeyer Jr, wife Angela, great-great-nephew Marc and many others.
For more information on funeral services or floral deliveries, contact Restland Funeral Home, 13005 Greenville Ave, Dallas, TX 75243, 469.925.1436.
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