Natoma-Luray Independent Sept. 1, 1955
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
A Funeral
He would have been 78 today. I didn't really know Bobby Bowman, but Mom loved the jam-packed, adrenaline fueled basketball games stoked by the 90db roar of the crowd that would overtake the tiny Natoma Grade School Auditorium and I always tagged along. When Bobby was killed the community responded in kind and filled the gym to capacity like a game night. This time in silence. I'd just turned seven and had been to maybe one other funeral, but the strange silent throng left a lasting impression that was reinforced by the picture of Bobby that hung like a mini-shrine in the I.C. Bar forever afterward. Within two weeks of the service on 9/11/55 my family pulled up stakes in Natoma and moved to California. The events that took place exactly 46 years from the day we left made a lasting impression on the world.
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2 comments:
I had not heard about this before, but I can imagine what an impression it would have had on you as a seven-year old. I remember going to I C Bar frequently throughout my youth so it's possible I saw the photo, if it was still there, without ever knowing who it was or why it was there.
Interesting! I don't remember his picture at the IC Bar, but it was hung in the gym in the northwest corner. The only story I ever heard was he was killed in a car accident. Im sure the community felt the loss, however, there were other losses through the years that didn't receive the same attention and I often felt that picture stayed hanging there far past it's time.
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