Journal entry by Brad Bowen —
Denise Bowen died March 3, 2024 in Keller, Texas, with family and close friends by her side in her final hours. She was claimed by melanoma cancer, a disease she had battled off and on for 12 years. Of all the people in her circle, she was the bravest on this journey.
A celebration of Denise’s life will be Saturday, April 6, 2024 at Noon at First United Methodist Church, 104 S. Miller Street, Decatur, Texas 76234. We’re currently in springtime, and those attending Denise’s service are encouraged to wear colorful clothing as a symbol of her vibrant life, loving heart, and giving soul. But it’s also okay to cry, since we miss her so much. Our faith sustained and strengthened us during this difficult past year. Denise led by example in this, so it is fitting to honor her with bittersweet celebration.
Denise was born August 31, 1960 in Terrell, Texas to Fred and Juanita Dorough. She lived all of her growing up years in Terrell, attending the public schools there and being raised in the church. Denise embraced the Christian faith at a young age due to the example of and nurturing from her parents, but she made the decision for herself and lived out that faith for her entire life, perhaps being the best example of having Jesus Christ in one’s heart that all could readily see. She lived it from the inside out, exemplifying the words from Micah 6:8 (NIV), “…to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God…”
She ran with the neighborhood kids (primarily the Briggs siblings), riding horses all over Terrell and generally having a great childhood. She was also good friends with Stevanne (now Stevie Powers). Denise’s horses in those years were Sally Gooden, a Welsh pony, and Prissy, a quarter horse. In adulthood that circle came back around when she loved Cowboy (quarter horse) and Pete (Haflinger).
At Terrell High School Denise played clarinet and marched in the Terrell Tiger Band and was great friends with Ellen Fineout (now Overholt), the drum major. She and Ellen had known each other since they were in cribs together in the nursery at First Baptist Church. Ellen was there for Denise on her final weekend on this earth, completing that lifelong arc.
Denise graduated from Terrell High School in 1978, the youngest in her class, and headed off to Baylor University, where she was sitting in college classes in August of that year at the tender age of 17. She studied Secondary Education and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982. After college she taught school for four years at the start of her career but then switched gears and got on with American Airlines on the reservations desk in 1986.
For the next three-plus decades Denise worked for either American or its reservation platform Sabre, going with Sabre when the parent company spun it off in the 1990s. Her work ethic and camaraderie with others held her in good stead in that industry, where she eventually worked her way to becoming an instructor and later a technical writer and business analyst. Her work in the airline industry afforded her the opportunity to travel the world, with her favorite places being in the U.K., London and Edinburgh mainly.
After retiring early from Sabre due to the Covid pandemic, Denise then continued business analyst work with the New Zealand-based company Author-It, working remotely. Over the course of decades she worked with numerous colleagues — too numerous to list — but she appreciated having known them and having had them in her life. She was especially good friends with Charlotte Ball, Nimmy Srikanth, Drew Jorgensen, Sarah Everett, and the late Vivian Nwankpah.
Denise spent the last 21-and-a-half years married to the love of her life, Brad Bowen. The two met at a singles group at a church that had three age tiers of such groups. (They were in the oldest such tier. Smiley emoji.) They were wed on November 8, 2002 in a simple but beautiful ceremony and then embarked on a 17-day driving trip to and from Maine. That memorable honeymoon was the beginning of a wonderful life together.
In 2016 Denise and Brad bought some land and moved into a tiny house in Wise County and Denise then owned horses once again. Through that, Denise got to spend some time with her friends in the 40 Something Cowgirls group. Denise loved her equines, and she and Brad witnessed the birth of their donkey Lily in September 2017.
Denise and Brad got to do a bit of traveling, discovering a love of National Parks, particularly in southern Utah, becoming desert canyon aficionados. They also enjoyed mountain biking on trails all over North Texas, skinning a few knees in the process but nevertheless thrilling to the wind and greenery and blood pulsing that bicycling brings. Denise and Brad were committed dog people, providing a loving home for and receiving dog-nose kisses from Bentley, Molly, Frankie, Rosy, Ollie, and Baxter. Outside in the pasture the family included horses Cowboy and Pete and donkeys Cupcake and Lily. Denise and Brad fell headlong addicted to watching “Gilmore Girls” reruns over and over and over with morning coffee. And the Harry Potter universe: they read, watched, listened on Audible and otherwise fell in love with all of those characters through the years.
They prayed daily for more than two decades, and that is what made Denise’s cancer journey bearable. One of their favorite places to reflect and pray was the “Engagement Tables” area in Lake View Park along the south shore of Grapevine Lake, so named because that’s where their marriage journey took its initial steps.
Denise’s parents, Fred and Juanita Dorough, preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband and forever love, Brad, of Paradise, Texas; brother Mike (and wife Donna) from Pennsylvania; nieces Julie Hill (and husband Jerry) and Elli Mevis (and husband Matthew); nephew Andrew Dorough (and wife Chat); other by-marriage and next generation nieces and nephews, cousins, in-laws, extended family, and lifelong friends. Her circle was tight.
Instead of sending flowers, please consider giving to the following organizations in Denise’s memory:
Wise Hope Shelter & Crisis Center (women’s and children’s safe house in Wise County, Texas): http://wisehope.org/donate
Golden Reward Sanctuary (horse and dog rescue in Weatherford, Texas): http://goldenrewardsanctuary.com/donate
Thanks one and all for the prayers, love, and friendships.
— — —
Rest in peace, my forever love, as we called each other in your final months.
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