Kenneth Herschel Bowen

Kenneth Herschel Bowen, 92, passed away on January 9, 2025 in Pearland, Texas.  He was born on May 23, 1932 in Turnertown, Texas.

Ken was born during the Hoover administration and lived through the next fifteen presidents. During the depths of the Depression his family lived in a tent while his father drove nitroglycerine in the oil fields for fifty cents a day. Graduating from high school in Waskom, Texas, he enrolled in Louisiana State University. He left his schooling, temporarily, to enlist in the United States Air Force and was then selected for pilot training and commissioned in September 1953, serving for three years as an Air Rescue Service helicopter and amphibious transport pilot, in the process recovering at least one downed fighter pilot from inside North Korean lines.

Returning to school in 1956, Ken graduated as an aerospace engineer. He worked for McDonnell Aircraft in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a wind tunnel engineer on projects which included the F-4 Phantom and the roof design of the Houston Astrodome. He then took a position with Link Simulations, Inc. as an engineer modeling the environmental control system in the Lunar Module simulator. He left Singer-Link for Philco-Ford (later Ford Aerospace) as the Apollo program was winding down and led the team which developed the Single Systems Trainer for astronauts learning the flight profile of the Shuttle Training Aircraft and, later, the Orbiter itself.

Ken had a second career as a business broker in the Clear Lake/Pearland area, working alongside his wife, Nancy. Together they raised two children, Eric and Erin, and were active in the community and in Sagemont Church.

Ken's life was marked by caring and kindness. Nancy relates that his last action was to set a heating pad in place to help relieve her back pain, and to make a pot of coffee for her. He was dressed to take his beloved best friend, Lola, for a walk when a more important Visitor unexpectedly called him Home.

Ken is survived by Nancy Cole Bowen, his wife of sixty-two years; his son Eric Herschel Bowen; his daughter Erin Cole Lichnovsky; Erin's eight children, Bethany Grace Parrish, Cameron True Lichnovsky, Cassidy Joy Woelfel, Benjamin Cole Lichnovsky, Abigail Rose Lichnovsky, Alacrity Hope Lichnovsky, Charis Faith Lichnovsky, and Adaya Mercy Lichnovsky; Great-Grandchildren: Temperance Chloe Parrish, Blake Caedmon Parrish, Calliope Blythe Parrish, Persephone Marie Parrish, Sparrow Serenity Woelfel, Oliver Clive Woelfel, Eli James Lichnovsky, and Liliana Reign Woelfel; his sister, Tammy Gaile Eaton and her daughter Elaine Eaton, both of Minden, Louisiana.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John Herschel Bowen and Nancy Pearl Bowen, nee Clemons, and by his younger brother, James True Bowen.

Funeral Services will be on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at Sagemont Church (Hughes Rd Auditorium, 11323 Hughes Rd, Houston, TX 77089).   Visitation will start at 12 pm followed by the funeral at 1:30 pm.

His ashes will be laid to rest at the Houston National Cemetery (10410 Veterans Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77038) on Monday, January 27, 2025.  The committal service will begin at 2:15pm.  Those wishing to attend should plan to arrive at 2:00 pm and line up in your vehicles in lane #2 by the administration building.

CODE OF AN AIR RESCUE MAN

“It is my duty, as a member of the Air Rescue Service, to save life and aid the injured.”

“I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts.”

“These things I do THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE.”