Eilleen Marie Lewis Bowen, BHS 1925

Eilleen Marie Lewis Bowen, BHS 1925

Eilleen Marie Lewis Bowen, 92, formerly of Los Osos, died Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010, at Ingleside Assisted Living in Atascadero. She was born in 1917 in Ipswich, S.D., the only child of Cora Liggett Lewis and Elmer David Lewis. She moved with her family to Burbank, Calif., in 1925, where she graduated from Burbank High School. An honors graduate from UCLA, Eilleen was a teacher for more than 25 years in Redlands, Santa Maria and Pasadena, Calif.

From the late 1950s until 1974, she taught in the Pasadena public school system. She was a member of Pi Lambda Theta and Delta Kappa Gamma. She also was an active member of the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association. Following her retirement in 1974, she and her husband, Charles Gordon Bowen, spent the rest of their lives on the Central Coast. Los Osos was her home until she moved into an assisted living facility in Atascadero in 2008.

Eilleen was a member of the first group of docents at the Morro Bay State Park Museum of Natural History, where she later served as President of the Docent Council and as Chairman of the Natural History Association. She volunteered over 7500 hours and the Learning Center at the museum was named in her honor. She organized the museum library and served as the docent librarian for over 25 years. Additionally, she was one of the founding members of the Friends of the Estuary at Morro Bay, and was a member of the Morro Coast Audubon Society. In 1997, she was honored by Cuesta College as a "Woman of Distinction," and received the Community and Public Service Volunteer award.

Surviving are her two sons, J. Thomas Bowen (Sandra) of Lafayette, Calif., and Gordon Lewis Bowen (Linda) of Staunton, Va.; four granddaughters Rebecca Bowen Jamil of Fremont, Calif., Jennifer Bowen Wieland of Shawnee, Kan., Susanne Eilleen Bowen of Lafayette, Calif., and Lisa Bowen Heymann of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; and five great-grandchildren Maya Sandra Jamil, Benjamin Bowen Wieland, Margaret Rose Wieland, Zachary Cyrus Wieland, and Noah Bowen Heymann. She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Charles, in 1996.

A family memorial service will be held at a later date. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History, State Park Road, Morro Bay, CA 93442. Benedict-Rettey 772-7382 Morro BayPublished in San Luis Obispo Tribune on September 26, 2010