Rick Ernest Bowie

We called Rick “Mr. Television,” he loved his remote.

His channel surfing abilities were above and beyond but that was the only surfing he did.

He was a natural athlete from golf, to bowling, skiing, you name it.  He especially excelled at baseball and at the age of 16 was clocked by the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates at 92-94 miles/hour although he chose not to go that route.

Instead, he became a narrow-gauge tram operator and overhead crane operator.

Rick was fun, funny, kind, and had a great ability to put things into perspective.  He was a great father teaching our son, Jordan, the love of music, sports, great food, and overall how to enjoy life.

Rick’s ability to love was amazing.

I was blessed to have him in my life for 36 years filled with laughter, tears, frustration, and more laughter. The most amazing moment in Rick's life was the birth of his son Jordan Jerome Bowie. His sense of humour and quietness drew people to him even though he’d of preferred to remain in the background.

He was a phenomenal dancer, and had magic hands with woodworking.

He was mostly a homebody but when he was out he always had a good time.

He had the best green eyes and an Elvis smirk and smile.

He was a gentle soul who could be extremely stubborn, but would let go of things quickly.

He was the most romantic man, May 24th he surprised me with 36 roses to commemorate our time together.

Rick’s kind, fun, and giving parents Ann and Irv Bowie of Trail, passed during his cancer journey.

Rick leaves behind his wife Donna and son Jordan.

He is also survived by his brother Don (Nancy) and Natalie and Erica; Aunt Bev (Ivan) Bell and cousins Tammy, Shelley, and Kevin; Aunty Lil; cousins Bruce, Theresa, Francis and Susie; Aunts Lana (Gary), and Theo Furiak; and cousins Mike Vernon, Barb and Al. Rick had several childhood friends he spoke fondly of: Carl Plamondon, Mark Blair, Dale Vanelli, Chris Gordon, Troy Stewart, Sid Harry, John Hughes and John Hand. You boys and your families meant a lot to Rick.

Rick was accepted into Donna’s family effortlessly because of his love for the Montreal Canadiens; Carol (Steve) Langlands and niece Reta; Dennis (deceased) and Gail, Travis (Danielle) Kevin, Tina; Anita (deceased) and Phil, Nathan and Nathan and Samantha, Nancy and Austin, Natalie (Nathan) and Ariel;  Mo (Dina); Rob, Sierra and Dakota; and Howard (Sheri) and Joey, Jonny and Jessee.

Donna and Rick are very grateful for the love and support during all these years. Rick loved Donna’s parents Agnes and Eucie and said in the afterlife he’d like to hang out with them. 

Rick was so very special and he attributes much of his success and abilities to his baseball coach Andy Bilesky who taught him how to breathe at a very young age.

Rick could often be heard saying … JUST BREATHE.

Jordan and Donna Bowie would like to thank the absolutely amazing staff at the Kamloops Cancer Clinic, their positive words of encouragement and healing abilities went beyond the medical requirements.

All of you made Rick’s cancer journey more bearable.

Dr. John Just, an amazing surgeon and humble man, gave us almost 7 years extra with Rick.

How do you express gratitude for that?

Our family has been blessed with Dr. Amanda Bosman to be our family physician, with her compassion, intelligence, wisdom and kindness, she has been much more to Jordan Rick and I.

Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you to Amanda, Dr. Ruth Farren, palliative doctor at the Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Memorial Hospice Home, and the phenomenal nurses and volunteers who made Rick’s last few weeks more comfortable and accommodating.

The City of Kamloops is truly blessed for the volunteers, doctors and nurses throughout the clinics, Royal Inland Hospital, and hospice.

Rick passed with dignity in a beautiful home on his own terms.

We’d especially like to thank Rick’s past employer Inland Glass and Aluminum Ltd.

Frank Luciani, Reagan Loehr, Gary Lawrence, his co-workers Doug, George, Lou, Lucky, Gregg, Caroline, Crystal and all the staff I’ve failed to name, have been unbelievably generous to our family.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Rick at a later date.

Donations in memory of Rick may be made to KidSport Kamloops - https://kidsportcanada.ca/british-columbia/kamloops/donate/ or the BC SPCA - https://spca.bc.ca/

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rick Ernest Bowie, please visit our floral store.