Thomas Bower was born on August 20, 1929 in Williamsport PA to Clarence and Olive Willets Bower. His childhood playmates were his 5 brothers and 1 sister. (John, Robert, Constance, Edward, Harry & David) His brother relates that Tom would disappear for hours and often was missing overnight. And this habit of being “The Happy Wanderer” would appear often in his adult life when he traveled for his job in 6 countries on 4 continents.

Thomas spoke often of his love and appreciation for his parents. Born during the Depression, jobs were scarce and his father often earned only 50 cents a day doing odd jobs to feed his family and his mother was able to use this pittance to create a loving home for the children. Because of this inspiration of his parents, Thomas embraced the concept that Love and Family trumps the need for a lot of money in life.

When Thomas was 11 years old, his father moved the family to Elmira NY where he was able to find employment in his field of expertice as a Machinist. This lasted only for 7 years when the family moved to Birmingham AL where there was work. And it was in this city that Thomas decided, as a teenager, upon the path he would follow for about 22 years – He joined the US Army and then the US Air Force where he retired with the rank of Master Technical Sergeant.

Thomas was proud of his service to his country. The only time he took off his Korean Veteran cap was when he slept. He never left home without it. Yet even in his duties of soldier, he was able to demonstrate his kindness and respect for others. He tells a story about his assignment guarding Chinese prisoners during the Korean Conflict. When their families brought home cooked food, the prisoners would call –“Psssst! Sargent Bower. Come.” They would then share the little they had with him. Their act was not as a bribe for the guard but an act of one soldier showing respect for another. And then I realized where Thomas obtained his love of kim chee.

Recently, Thomas verbalized why he always wore his Korean Veteran Hat. He said,” Many people forget about the Korea War, I wear it so that people will remember it did happen and remember the many of us who never returned home.”

This theme of respect followed Thomas throughout his Air Force career, it was demonstrated at the Paris Air Show when we lived in Europe, we were sitting in the guest section of a US jet engine manufacturer. (Thomas’ specialty was maintenance mechanic on the F16.) During a demonstration in the air show of a new plane, the test pilot, walked off the field, through the gate into the special viewing area of the manufacturer and spied Thomas sitting in the corner, The pilot walked past the dignitaries who expected him to stop and chat. The pilot shook Thomas’ hand and said: “Tom, what a pleasant surprise to see you here all the way from Edwards.” (Tom worked at Edwards Air Force Base after his retirement from the Air Force.) That pilot became one of the astronauts in the space program. It demonstrated the respect and comradery of our military men. To many people Thomas was a simple airplane mechanic, but his military brothers knew that because he did his part of the job perfectly, they were safe from foreseen mechanical problems on their plane and they can do theirs.

These brief words cannot begin to tell of the depth and breadth of Thomas or his life. And there are three things remaining to be said. He passed knowing the three children from marriage to his first wife, Irma Bower, have grown into fine examples of adult men and woman. His eyes would light up with the pride that only a father could know whenever he spoke with them about their current lives. Thomas said that the greatest legacy he gave to the world was Bill, Mike and Janet Bower. These three added to the Bower Legacy 6 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Thomas knew that all of these precious ones would grow up to be as fine and as wonderful as their parents.

Thomas spent the last 12 weeks of his life with his wife surrounded by the empathetic and compassionate staff at Winters Park Assisted Living & Memory Care. After 32 years of marriage, his last breath was taken at 2:30 AM on December 31st held in the loving arms of his second wife Dorothy Gursky Bower. This poem was written by Dorothy on the day of his crossing to fly into the arms of God.In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the WoundedWarrior Project.

Your star will forever shine upon all who see

The simple beauty of The Quiet Man

Softly visible yet burning with hidden fire

Reminding all who paused in their own life

To share a part of his

I am a better person because I knew you