Obituary of Mary Marguerite Bowen
Mary Marguerite Bowen (80) longtime St. Maries, ID resident passed away at Kootenai Health on July 10, 2024. She was born to Henry and Dorothy Coop on December 20, 1943 in Salem, OR. Mary grew up in Salem and attended high school there. She went to work in one of the local movie theaters there, and that is where she met Bill Bowen.
Bill and Mary married in September 1961 and made their home in Salem for a short time and LaGrande, OR where the family had a horse farm and led horse 4-H before they moved to Alaska. Mary held various jobs over the years, but one of her most interesting job was in airport security in Anchorage on the pipeline security in Valdez. In 1978 the family moved to St. Maries where Mary worked as a homemaker. She also worked intermittently at the bowling alley, fairgrounds, and she managed Minerva’s for a short time. Her all-time favorite job was working with her husband for the Forest Service. She assisted in painting all of the buildings, spending a significant amount of time up near Avery. The couple retired together in 2000.
When she was able, Mary was a Champion Archery Shooter, and she enjoyed teaching the 4-H kids of Benewah County this skill. She loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and riding horses. Later in life, Mary’s health started to fail her, but she still found joy in canning, crocheting, and weaving lawn chairs. An extremely artistic and talented individual, these lawn chairs were a staple in St. Maries at one time, and so were her repurposed windchimes. As life slowed down, Mary enjoyed socializing and spending time at the Fernwood and St. Maries Senior Mealsites; however her greatest joy was spending time and being around her grandchildren.
Mary is survived by her husband Bill at their home in St. Maries; children Deborah (David) Evans of Marlboro Township, OH and Bradley (Michelle) Bowen of St. Maries, ID; grandchildren Dennis, Alexander, Andrew, and Avery; numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings.
At this time there are no services planned.
