Harry Jesse Bowers

Harry Jesse Bowers, minister of the gospel and humble servant of the Lord, died of natural causes in his 92nd year, just one week prior to the one year anniversary of the death of his beloved Mary. He died as much of a broken heart as of the debilitating stresses of an aging body. He now joins his Mary asleep in the Lord to wake no more until that day when the dead in Christ shall rise.

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. John 11:25–26

Harry was born in the mountains of North Carolina of modest means in the midst of the great depression. He walked out of those hills to attend seminary at Johnson Bible College, the first of his family to attend college, and there he trained to be a minister of the gospel. His calling to the church took him and his family across the state of North Carolina, from the beaches of Nags Head to the small town of Ahoskie, and finally back to Asheville, the “Land of the Sky.” He and Mary labored tirelessly, always putting the needs of others ahead of theirs. Whether ministering to his congregants, attending to the needs of the homeless, visiting prisoners, or preaching to migrant workers, Harry lived as a servant to others, always kind, ever at the ready to lend a hand to anyone in need.

Harry modeled for his five children, boys all, what it means to live a life of integrity, ingenuity, and contentment in the midst of life’s challenges. He was a young father, early to mid-twenties for the first four boys, and early thirties for the last. Money was scarce, and to make ends meet, Harry always worked a full time job outside the church. His time to prepare sermons and teachings was in the evening and Saturdays, and of course Sundays were filled with church work, yet the boys never saw their dad stressed out about bills or worried that he was overstretched in commitments. He was always in a good mood and ready to play with his boys. He was fun and fun loving, almost childlike in his glee in playing with them. As for ingenuity, the man could build anything and fix anything, perhaps as much from necessity as from the joy of the craftsman.

These five learned from their dad just by experiencing and participating in the life of the family. They learned how to be good husbands in how he treated Mary with affection and kindness and worked with her as an equal partner in household chores and child rearing, They learned how to be good fathers in the way he participated in their lives, from coaching baseball to wrestling matches with them on the living room floor, and in sacrificing his time to help them in their endeavors, from driving them at 6 am on Sunday mornings to deliver papers in the pouring rain to making sure all the boys had jobs, learning how to meet commitments. They learned from him how to cook a good cheeseburger and even a good evening meal, and how to clean up afterwards. He taught them the value of hard work, of a good laugh, and of an afternoon nap on the couch. What a dad! And what a helpmate and husband to Mary! Theirs was a life of mutual devotion to one another for seven decades, of sacrificial love and continuous attendance to one another’s needs, of small things like daily post-it notes to one another expressing their love, and bigger things like caring for their elderly mothers in their own home in the latter years of their lives. It was never he and she, it was always they.

Harry took up oil painting in his 40s. Untrained as he was, he produced beautiful landscapes, especially of the mountains of the Blue Ridge, and bequeathed to the family – to his children and grandchildren – paintings that will be cherished remembrances of him. He became part of a small community of local artists who met regularly to hone their craft. Jonathan has fond memories of tagging along with Harry to these gatherings at old buildings in downtown Asheville. This group of largely self-taught artists regularly showed and sold their work in mall art shows.

Harry is survived by sons and daughters-in-law Michael and Susan, Stephen and Mar- garet, Philip and Kristina, Mark and Sue, and Jonathan and Lisa; by grandchildren William (Conni) and Mary (Joseph) and Jessi (Ryan), Brian (Alyeese), John (Kather- ine) and Thomas (Kellie) and Maddy, and Megan (Benjamin) and Matthew (Katarina); and by great grandchildren Thomas and Eleanor and Elizabeth and Theodore, Jack and Josephine, Lorelei and Lucille and Phoebe, and Cameron and Benjamin.

The family gives thanks to hospice care, which guided Harry and the family during his last few days. Special thanks is due Sue and Mark for their attendance to Harry’s needs these last few months, and especially due Jonathan, the youngest of the five boys, whose sacrificial service to the care of dad during this past year was a supreme act of honoring his father.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that folks consider a donation in Harry’s name to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

As we honor him, we, like him, look to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

You only, O God, are immortal, the creator and maker of mankind; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and to earth we shall return. For so did you decree, saying, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” All of us go down to the dust, yet even at the grave we make our song:

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. BCP 2019

Anders-Rice Funeral Home and Cremation Center is honored to serve the Bowers family.