Joan Winifred Bowe

Joan Winifred Bowe, longtime resident of Vancouver, Washington, passed peacefully from this life, 96, at her home in Touchmark, Fairway Village on July 19, 2019. She was born in Birmingham, England on May 16, 1923. Two years after World War II broke out in Europe, Joan joined the British Royal Air Force as a WAAF. She was selected to work in a newly formed, top-secret branch of the RAF as a radar operator. After the war, Joan went to Berlin with the British government where she met Martin Bowe, an American officer who was leaving the Army to join the US Foreign Service. They were married in Berlin in 1948, leaving the city on a plane that had carried in coal as part of the Berlin airlift. Martin was assigned first to Prague, during the post-war communist takeover, and subsequently to Munich, Moscow, Frankfurt, and Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. In 1964, Joan, Martin and their two girls returned to McLean, Virginia, where Joan was employed by West Group, a real estate development firm, at which she rose to the position of Vice President. 2 years after Martin's death in 1992, she moved to Vancouver, Washington and lived in Fairway Village until she moved to Touchmark in early 2017. Joan was grateful to have such great memories of the places she had lived and the rich experiences she had enjoyed. But she was most grateful to have been part of a loving, close-knit, and supportive family, beginning with her siblings, Audrey, Edna, Bette and Ray, continuing with her devoted daughters, Patricia and Liz, and then carrying on to her five beloved grandchildren, Julie, Martin, Christine, Shannon and Adam. Her nine great-grandchildren will forever be grateful to have known and loved their remarkable "GG." Joan was also blessed with the opportunity to touch many lives with her extraordinary gifts and personality: her friends and neighbors; her Good Shepherd church community; her Bible study; her bridge group; her water aerobics friends; the women who were her "other daughters;" and the many wonderful people who in her later years became her caregivers. All of us will miss her charm, grace, independence, and dignity. Many called her "the Queen." Long may she reign in our hearts! Memorial contributions may be made to the Church of the Good Shepherd, 805 SE Ellsworth Rd., Vancouver, WA 98664, where her life will be celebrated at 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 3, 2019 with a tea reception following the service.

Joan Winifred Bowe

May 16, 1923 - July 19, 2019