Family

Family comes first…feeling blessed that I have a great family!

Bowers Party of Four with our beloved border collie Rosie, at our Deer Ridge home in Milford.

A Christmas 2019 family photo with my daughter-in-law Sarah and Lucy joining us at our condo in Spring Lake.

Photo taken at Eric and Cheryl’s wedding in July, 2018. I told Claudia that she looks beautiful. She said, “I guess you’re not always wrong”.

One of the best days of my life: Adam Charles Bowers born March 29, 1985.

Adam at 3 months…cuter than a bug’s ear!

Adam in a Detroit Tiger uniform…looking sporty!

One of the best days of my life: Eric Andrew Bowers born April 24, 1990.

Hey there, hi there, ho there…it’s Mickey and Eric hanging out

Eric having fun in his playpen!

With Santa…ho ho ho!

With Adam showing off some of the patches he earned in Cub Scouts.

In Adam’s classroom, I’m thinking 1st grade, 1991.

The Bowers Boyz, with Uncle Jim and Uncle Tom.

Bowers Boyz at Indy 500 with UT…Noisy but fun time!

Trip to Washington state with stop at Wall Drug in South Dakota.

With Eric all set in his apartment in Bellingham Washington, time for Adam and I to fly back to our homes. Two sides to this coin…excited for Eric starting a new chapter in his life but we won’t see him as much in person being two time zones away. So happy that Adam could go with us on this trip entitled The Bowers Boyz Go West!

Luna, super kitty, enjoying a catnap on her half pipe until I got in her face with my camera. A feline family member, Luna was born in 2013. In the Fall of 2022, Luna came down with some health issues which we had addressed by our vet and the emergency vet. She finally was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia Virus which lead to her not eating and becoming so weak she could hardly stand. Our vet came to our house and we talked about Luna for an hour. It was mutually agreed by all of us (vet, me, Claudia, Adam and Eric) that our beloved Luna’s time had come to cross the rainbow bridge. The vet came to our house on December 30th and we said goodbye to Luna…so emotional but she left us with many, many fond memories…nine years of memories.

Luna doing some “scratching” on her turntable.

My Dad and Mom…Charles LaVerne Bowers, Charlotte Bertha Bowers. My Dad was born at home on 485 Orchard Lake Rd. in Pontiac Michigan. My Mom was born at home on 623 Pleasant St. in Royal Oak Michigan.

Rare family photo taken by LaZaroff Photography in 1963. Also rare is that we are all dressed up! Front row left to right: me (age 10), Doug Heathman, Mark Heathman, Sherry Heathman. Middle row, left to right: Nancy Wittkopf, Aunt Marilyn Wittkopf, Janet Wittkopf (deceased), Frank Bowers (my grandfather-deceased), Anna Bowers (my grandmother-deceased), Don Heathman, Aunt Verna Heathman (deceased), Sue Bowers, Brian Heathman (deceased). Top row, left to right: Tom Bowers (deceased), Jim Bowers, Uncle Walt Wittkopf (deceased), Charles Bowers (my Dad-deceased), Uncle Gerry Bowers (deceased), Aunt Dorothy Bowers (deceased), Terry Bowers, Uncle Glenn Heathman (deceased), Bob Heathman.

My Aunt Marilyn Wittkopf at her 85th birthday party. She was my Dad’s youngest sister who was born when my Dad was in high school.

My Mom surrounded by the Bowers Boyz for a birthday photo, number 80.

Family group photo on Claudia’s side taken at my niece Kara’s graduation party in 2006. Front row, left to right: Adam, Eric, Kara, Grandma Gladys, Jordan, Cameron. Back row, left to right: Jason, Laura, Pete, Claudia, Mark and Anne.

Bogards, Bogards and more Bogards!

At our niece Kara and Fa’s wedding in Rome, Italy. I was still working and didn’t go but Claudia and Gladys attended with other family.

My grandfather on my Dads side (Bowers) had seven brothers and six sisters…14 kids total! Left to right top row, birth order: Newell (3), Grace (7), Ella (4), Blanche (5), Dorr (1), Frank (my grandfather-6), Verne (8). Middle, front row left to right: Dell (10), Norm (9), Harry (12), Charles (father in chair), Katie (2), Louella (little girl-13), Fern (really little girl-14), Jennie (mother in chair), Glen (11). So my Dad, Charles, was named after his grandfather (man in chair), my great grandfather.

My grandparents on my Dad’s side, Frank and Anna Bowers (though on my Dad’s birth certificate, it read “Annie M. Rose”). My grandmother was 1/2 Chippewa Indian. My grandfather was born in Wixom Michigan.

My grandfather on my Dad’s side, Frank Bowers, was a mailman for 34 years out of the Pontiac post office. This is a rare photo of him delivering mail. He was born in 1893 in Wixom Michigan and died in 1982.

Family gathers for birthday party for my grandfather, Frank Bowers.

My grandmother on my Dad’s side, Anna M. Rose, born 6-7-1894 in Mikado County, 1/2 Chippewa Indian. She attended Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Her father was Henry Rose who was born in Berlin Germany. Her mother, Mary Wastinarbi, was born in 1868 in Alcona County, MI, a full blooded Chippewa Indian.

My Mom’s side of the family, left to right: My Uncle Leon Tiffany, my Mom (Charlotte), and my Aunt Beverly.

My Mom, my Aunt Beverly and my Uncle Leon at my Mom’s 70th birthday party in 1987.

The Walters family visiting us at Franklin (August, 1968), front row left to right: my cousins Steve, Jim and John. I cut my face out of photo to use some way, not sure why. Top row left to right: Woman in chair unidentified, Aunt Lillian, Doris, Aunt Bev (my Mom’s sister), Uncle Bob, my cousin Cathy and my Mom. Oh, and one extra large watermelon!

Eric’s inlaws…Linda and Brian Walton…and Eric’s wife Cheryl at their home in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia.

Mom and Dad’s grave in Wixom Cemetery, Wixom Michigan.

My Dad was a Captain in WWII…when war ended, he was promoted to Major.

Bowers monument in Wixom Cemetery in Wixom Michigan where a lot of Bowers family members are buried.

Rare photo of my Dad and his brother Jerry, my uncle, when they met up in France.

Captain Bowers with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

My brother Tom’s grave in Wixom Cemetery, Wixom Michigan. He died at age 65.

Back of Tom’s grave.

We had this marker at the cemetery, but the one for Dad disappeared so we took Mom’s marker and put it in our flower bed.

A subdivision was built on the land that was owned by the Bowers family so they named the sub Bowers Hills. It’s located on Pontiac Trail in South Lyon.