Charles H. Bowser

Obituary For Charles H. Bowser

Celebration of Life Services for Mr. Charles Hopkins Bowser, will be held Friday, January 5, 2024, 12:00 NOON at The Chapel of Donald Trimble Mortuary. Elder Terrence Maeberry, Officiating, Eulogist. Interment, Washington Memorial Gardens, Decatur, GA.

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My name is Charles Hopkins Bowser. I was born in Norfolk, Virginia on June 7, 1942. My early childhood years were spent in Norfolk, Virginia and Elizabeth City, North Carolina with my parents, William and Elsie. While very young in Norfolk, I contracted polio. My upper body and arm strength were severely affected by the disease. However, I was able to overcome it and go on to lead a normal life. I was even able to join my high school baseball team as a pitcher. I was also able to get my pilot’s license. After we moved to Elizabeth City, I attended the Training School which was near the campus of Elizabeth City State College. Both of my parents were teaching school in Elizabeth City. I met my best friends during those years growing up in Elizabeth City and we are still friends to this day. They are Roosevelt (Sonny) Wright and Albert Robinson. My family lived only a short distance from my father’s sister, my Aunt Bee (Beatrice Hughes) and her daughter, my cousin, Brenda. We would visit often. What I remember most about growing up in Elizabeth City is long hours building model airplanes and playing flying in my back yard, and riding my bicycle to the Blimp Base and the Coast Guard Air Station with Sonny and Albert on Saturday mornings. Also, we would occasionally go fishing on a bridge over the Pasquotank River. Also, every year we would go to the Boat Regatta on the Pasquotank River. Watching the boats race was very exciting. During the summers, my mother taught school and my father worked in Nags Head waiting tables at some of the private resorts there. He earned a lot of money in tips from the wealthy clients. He said one of his most famous customers was North Carolina Senator Jessie Helms. When I was old enough, he took me along where I could bus tables. In addition to the job, I got a lot of time to fish and swim as well. It was a great way to spend the summers as a teen.

After Training School, I attended PW Moore High School in Elizabeth City until my third year when my family moved to Somerset, New Jersey. I then transferred to South Brunswick High School where I graduated a year later. What I remember most about New Jersey is working during the summer at a local airport where the manager offered me my first general aviation airplane ride. It was a great experience and I was sold on general aviation flying. I also remember learning to ice skate and play hockey. In New Jersey, my best friend was our dog, Princess, a beautiful Alaskan Husky.

After I graduated from high school, I attended Howard University in Washington, D.C for my first year. My Aunt Marie, my mother’s half-sister lived in Washington, D.C. I occasionally visited her. After my first year at Howard, I transferred to the University of Illinois where I majored in Mechanical Engineering and most importantly, joined the Flying Club there. I became an active member of the Flying Illini, where I got the opportunity to get my pilot’s license and fly many different air planes, participate in competitions and enjoy the comradery of other pilots.

Following my graduation in 1965 from the University of Illinois, I got a job at Bendix in Teterboro, New Jersey. After Sheilah graduated in 1966 we got married in Chicago, Illinois on June 26th, 1966. It was a wonderful wedding with extended family on both sides in attendance. We honeymooned in the Bahama Islands, spending a few days in Nassau and a few days in Eleuthera. We had a wonderful time and vowed to return – which we eventually did some years later.

We returned to Fort Lee, where I already had an apartment. We lived there for a year until I decided to join the Air Force officer training program and become an Air Force pilot. I signed up and reported to duty at Lackland Air Force Base. Sheilah moved back to Chicago to await the birth of our first child. Barry was born on July 1, 1967.

Donald Trimble Mortuary, Inc., 1876 Second Avenue, Decatur, 404-371-0772-3.