Josephine Bowen

Mrs. Lela Josephine (Morris) Bowen, age 83 of Silver Spring, Maryland and formerly of Ripley, Ohio, died Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at The Aspenwood Senior Living Community in Silver Spring, Maryland. She was a member of The Centenary United Methodist Church in Ripley, Ohio, she served as Secretary and President of United Methodist Women and the Ripley Women's Club, Secretary of the Brown Co. Retired Teacher's Association, Secretary of Delta Kappa Gamma Honor Society of Southern, Ohio and became President of the Resident's Council of the Aspenwood Senior Living Community in 2002. Josephine graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1944 after attending the Mississippi State College for Women. She then taught in Lufkin, Texas for one year. She married Robert Furman Bowen on November 22, 1945. After moving frequently because of job transfers, they settled in Ripley, Ohio in 1967. She began teaching Math and Science at Ripley-Union-Lewis High School in 1968 and continued unitl her retirement in 1988.

Mrs. Bowen was born on August 12, 1923 in Oxford, Mississippi the daughter of the late Joseph Higgins and Lela Mae (Kinney) Morris. She was also preceded in death by her husband, in 1986, Robert F. Bowen; three sisters - Jessie Mae Sneed, Willie Jewell Nicholson and Edna Irene Fanning.

Mrs. Bowen is survived by one daughter, Lela Irene Bowen and her husband, Larry Joel Goldberg of Silver Spring, Maryland; one son, Robert Daniel Bowen and wife Cindy of Chattanooga, TN; three grandchildren - Justin Eliezer Lev of Shonto, Arizona, Cara Leigh Bowen-Goldberg of Gainesville, Florida and Robert Christopher Bowen of Chattanooga, TN.; one brother, Joseph Higgins Morris, Jr. Of the Knoxville, TN. area.

Funeral services will be held 1:00 P.M. Saturday, August 4, 2007 at The Centenary United Methodist Church in Ripley, Ohio. Rev. Jaime Wirth will officiate. Visitation will be from 12:00 to 1:00 P.M. Saturday at the church. Interment will follow the funeral services in Maplewood Cemetery in Ripley, Ohio. Cahall Funeral Home of Ripley is serving the family.

Condolences may be sent to the family at: Bowenfamily@cahallfuneralhomes.com