Kenneth J. Bowey, 81, of Bovill, went to see Jesus on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at Gritman Hospital in Moscow. He suffered for only three months following a stage IV lung cancer diagnosis.
He was born March 5, 1942, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Wallace and Patricia Bowey, and proudly obtained his U.S. citizenship in 1989 (so he could vote and not complain about who held office).
Educated in Lewiston, he graduated from Lewiston High School in 1961. Ken attended Dunwoody Institute of Technology, Bakery Division, Minneapolis, from 1961-62.
Ken moved to Lewiston, with his parents, from Indiana in 1954. He purchased acreage outside Bovill in 1975, built a cabin there in 1976, and moved to Bovill in 1999, where he lived until his death.
Ken married his high school sweetheart, Sally Race, Aug. 14, 1962, in Lewiston and they had four children: Chuck, Lynelle, Todd and Renee.
Ken worked as a baker at Patricia Bakery until 1963, then as baker for Buttrey’s (1963-82). Ken owned and operated Ken’s Custom Cakes (1983-90) and baker for Yoke’s Family Foods (1990-94). He owned and managed a Furniture Medic franchise in 1994 until his retirement in 1998.
Ken was a Boy Scout leader in Lewiston and Deary, volunteer firefighter with the Bovill Fire Department from 2001-09, and served as Bovill Fire Commissioner from 2019 until his death. He attended Deary Community Bible Church for the last four years. Prior to that time, he held positions of deacon and elder at the Bovill Presbyterian Church for many years. While serving as missions elder for the church he made several trips to Mexico with Amor Industries building homes.
Ken was instrumental in getting the Idaho Food Bank mobile food truck coming to Bovill on a monthly basis. He began creating works of art in his wood shop and sold his pieces at the Moscow Farmers Market for the past eight years.
Ken is survived by his spouse, Sally, at the family home; son Chuck (Keith) Bowey, Spanaway, Wash.; son Todd (Miranda) Bowey, Costa Rica; daughter Lynelle Bowey, Genesee; granddaughters: Tessa (JB) Playfair, Moscow; McKenzie Bowey, Pendleton, Ore.; Paige Bowey, Savannah, Ga.; grandsons: Caleb Bowey, Drummond, Mont.; Zane Bowey, Bozeman, Mont.; Conner Bowey, Potlatch; Tyler Bowey, Costa Rica; aunt Eleanor Smith, Lewiston, and several cousins living in Canada.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Wallace and Patricia Bowey, and infant daughter Renee Bowey.
The celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at the Deary Community Bible Church. To honor Ken, who wore nothing but shorts for half the year, please feel free to wear casual summer attire. A covered-dish barbecue will follow the service at the family home in Bovill. Please bring a chair and a side dish to share.