ERMA E. BOWLUS
JEFFERSON - Erma Elizabeth Bowlus, 84, of 1807 Arnoldstown Road, Jefferson, died Friday, June 13, 1997, at the home of her niece, Carolyn and the Rev. James L. McMahan, Cumberland.
Born Oct. 14, 1912, in Keedysville, she was a daughter of the late Owen Edward and Bertha Jones Poffenberger. She also was preceded in death by her husband, Grayson Aubrey on March 28, 1981; and the following brothers and sisters, Margie I. Corder, Clarence Poffenberger, Isabell I. Watkins, Alice Poffenberger, Ira Poffenberger, and Igenes Poffenberger.
Surviving are one brother, Leonard Poffenberger, Shepardstown, W.Va.; and several nieces and nephews.
Friends will be received at the Donald B. Thompson Funeral Home, 31 East Main St., Middletown, on Tuesday from 2 to 3 p.m.
Services will be held at the funeral home Tuesday at 3 p.m. with the Rev. Jack Cook, pastor of Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church, Hagerstown, and the Rev. James L. McMahan, pastor of Trinity and Potomac Park United Methodist Church, Cumberland, officiating.
Interment will be in Pleasant View Church of the Brethren cemetery, Burkittsville.
The Scarpelli Funeral Home, 108 Virginia Ave., Cumberland, handled the local arrangements.
JOSSETTE M. BOWLING
CUMBERLAND - Jossette Marie Bowling, 43, formerly of Cumberland, died Sunday, June 8, 1997, at Killeen, Texas.
Born Feb. 9, 1954 in Cumberland, she was the daughter of James and Mary C. Reed. She was preceded in death by a brother, James E. Reed II.
Mrs. Bowling served in the U.S. Army for six years in medical supply and worked as a manager for Texas Signs and Designs.
In addition to her parents she is survived by her husband, Jeffrey L. Bowling, Killeen; one son, Tommy Young of Elba, Ala.; one daughter, Sharon Young, Elba, Ala.; two brothers, Bernard J. Reed, Martinsburg, W.Va.; John C. Reed, Virginia Beach, Va.; three sisters, Mary Dowling, Manchester, N.H.; Tracey A. McIntyre, Martinsburg, W.Va. and Charlene J. Poorbaugh, Glencoe, Pa.
The body was cremated.
Donations or memorials may be made to the Pediatrics Restorative Care Center at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas.
HARRY J. GIFT JR.
SILVER SPRING - Harry James Gift Jr., 56, of 8609 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring, died Friday, May 16, 1997, at the Mariner Nursing Home, Clinton.
Born Dec. 15, 1941, at Keyser, W.Va., he was the son of the late Harry James Gift Sr., and Georgia (Arnold) Gift.
Mr. Gift was employed as a theater usher. He was a graduate of Keyser High School, and was Lutheran by faith.
Surviving are four cousins, Sally Burnside, Joann Staggs, Philip Jordan II, and Elizabeth Hanlin, all of Keyser, W.Va.
Mr. Gift's body was cremated.
Memorial services will be conducted at the Rotruck-Smith Funeral Home on Friday, May 23, 1997, at 1 p.m.
Interment will be in the Queens Point cemetery, Keyser.
MARIE M. LEWIS
BROOKLYN, Mich. - Marie M. Lewis, 79, formerly of Frostburg, Md., died Thursday, Oct. 16, 1997, at her home in Brooklyn.
Born July 27, 1918, in Eckhart, Md., she was the daughter of the late Robert and Anna (Miller) Laber. She also was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph "Buck" Lewis, formerly of Eckhart; and a son, Charles "Butch" Lewis.
Surviving are two sons, Ronald G. Laber and wife Anna, Frostburg, and Thomas "Tom" Lewis and wife Martha, Brooklyn; eight grandchildren, Helen Tarbox, Jamie Laber, Lorie Nelson, Anna Laber, Heather Tringler, Tammy Lewis, Tommy Joe Lewis, and Sara Ford; and five great-grandchildren.
There was no visitation. A private graveside service and interment was held in Brooklyn.
The M.G. Braun Funeral Home, 137 South Main St., Brooklyn, was in charge of the arrangements.
AMANDA D. GLASS
MOUNT SAVAGE - Amanda D. "Mandy" Glass, 16, of Mount Savage Road, Mount Savage, died Friday, Feb. 14, 1997, at Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, W.Va. She went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Born Sept. 29, 1980, in Cumberland, she was the daughter of Pastor James R. Glass and wife Doris, of Mount Savage.
Miss Glass was a member of the Apostolic Lighthouse, Corriganville. She was an 11th grade student at Mount Savage High School, where she was a member of the Honor Society. She was being taught homebound by Don Madden and Glenn Burnes. She was a person of love and expressed it to everyone she met. She passed away on Valentine's Day, a day of love. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.
Surviving in addition to her parents are one sister, Angela R. Glass, and one brother, James R. Glass II, both residing at home; paternal grandmother, Erma Glass; maternal grandparents, Walter and Iva Lee White; (adopted) grandpa, George Weatherholtz; the special baby in the world, Jeffrey Tyler Delozier; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.
Friends will be will be received at the Scarpelli Funeral Home, 108 Virginia Ave., on Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. and Monday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m.
Services will be conducted at the Central Assembly of God Church, Bedford Road, Cumberland, on Tuesday at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Lloyd Garlitz, the Rev. Sam Smith, the Rev. Benny Smith, the Rev. Bob Hartung, the Rev. Lou Crissinger, the Rev. John Thomas, and the Rev. Donny Engle officiating.
Friends will be received at the church one hour prior to the services.
Interment will be in the Restlawn Memorial Gardens Mausoleum, Cash Valley Road, LaVale.
Pallbearers will be Bart Mazer, Ken Nolan, Jeffrey Baker, Kenneth Baker, John Larrick and Gary Larrick. Honorary pallbearers will be Richard Glass and Joseph Glass II.
The family requests that contributions be made to the Ronald McDonald House, 841 Country Club Drive, Morgantown, WV 26505; Candlelighters, a support group for cancer patients, in care of Rod Casteel, 30 Maple St., Ridgeley, WV 26753; or the Children's Hospital Cancer Center at Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, WV 26505.
GORDON L. BOWIE
CUMBERLAND - Gordon L. Bowie, 93, of 706 Washington Street, Cumberland, died at his home on Thursday morning, August 7, 1997, after a brief illness. He had been blessed with a long life, a devoted family, and a productive career.
Mr. Bowie, born in 1903, graduated in 1920 from Allegany High School, where he was on the track team. After a year of postgraduate study at The Mercersburg Academy, he began studies at the University of Michigan. But during his first year there his father, the late Robert E. Lee Bowie, died, and soon he returned to Cumberland to join his brother, Douglas R. Bowie, in running their father's business, The Tri-State Paper Company. For 45 years, he served as secretary/treasurer of the company, building it into one of the most successful local wholesale paper distributors in the East. Mr. Bowie and his brother sold the business and retired in 1967.
Mr. Bowie served for 57 years on the Board of Directors of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association. In 1940, after his first meeting, he had to excuse himself promptly so that he could attend the birth of his daughter, Beverley. In 1997, his last act as board member was to help oversee the merger of First Federal with American Trust Bank. He had also served as vice-president of the bank.
In addition, he was active in the First Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon, as an elder, as president of the board of trustees, and as chair of a search committee to bring a new pastor to the church. He and his brother, Douglas, donated the Bowie Memorial Chapel to the church in memory of their parents.
At the time of his death, Mr. Bowie was the longest-standing member of Our Lodge of Masonry, and a 32nd degree Mason. He was a member of the Ali Ghan Shrine Club, a charter member of Cumberland Lions Club, and was a member and past director of the Royal Order of Jesters.
Despite his many other accomplishments, Mr. Bowie will be remembered best for a tennis career that spanned nine successive decades. As a promoter of the game, he spearheaded an effort to install all-weather courts at the Cumberland Country Club in 1958, and served for many years as a member of the Tennis Committee there and as the principal organizer of tennis at the club.
During that time, the number of family tennis members rose from five to over 100.
As a player, he and his wife, the late Evelyn Claybrook Bowie, dominated the Allegany County mixed doubles tournament, winning 10 championships during the 1940s and 1950s. During that period they were also perennial champions at the county club, where in addition Mr. Bowie won a number of singles and men's doubles championships. When he suffered a heart attack in 1956, he was told by his doctor to give up tennis. But after a year he discovered that the stress of golf and other forms of inactivity were harder on his heart than the game he loved. He gradually returned, at first in secret, to the courts.
In 1975, a tennis ball ricocheted from his racquet into his left eye and, despite surgery at the Wilmer Clinic at Johns Hopkins, he lost the sight of his eye. Undaunted by that, and also by triple bypass surgery that he underwent in 1979, he returned again to the courts, continuing to play doubles regularly until his last game in February of this year. For four years, from 1990 to 1993, he competed with 31 other doubles teams in the United States Tennis Association National 85 and Over Championships on the grass courts at the Longwood Cricket Club, in Chestnut Hills, Massachusetts. In 1996, he competed in the National 90 and Over Championships in Orlando, Florida.
Mr. Bowie is survived by his two children, Beverley Bowie Awbrey of Westfield, New Jersey, and G. Lee Bowie, Jr., of Amherst, Massachusetts; and by six grandchildren, Kimberley Michelle Awbrey, 28, of Washington, D.C., Becky Michaels, 27, of New York City, Lee Bowie Awbrey, 24, of Burlington, Vermont, Jules Bowie, 21, Michael Bowie, 10, and Cassie Bowie, 8, all of Amherst, Massachusetts.
A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, Cumberland, on Sunday, August 10, 1997, at 4 p.m.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Mr. Bowie's memory to the Hospice Association of Western Maryland.
JOSEPHINE V. BOWERS
CUMBERLAND - Josephine V. Bowers, 68, of the Cumberland Manor Apartments, died Saturday, Aug. 2, 1997, at Western Maryland Center, Hagerstown.
Born Oct. 27, 1928, in Cumberland, she was the daughter of the late Joseph P. and Ellen Mae (Connor) Puffinberger. She also was preceded in death by one brother, James Briggs.
Mrs. Bowers was a homemaker.
Surviving are five sons, Kenneth Ray Bowers, Ricky Lee Bowers, Steven Ray Bowers, Virgil James Bowers and Wesley H. Bowers, all of Cumberland; and two daughters, Mary Jane Rodriguez, Paw Paw, W.Va., and Kim Lee Anderson, Cumberland; two brothers, Thomas Puffinberger, Ohio, and Lester "Sonny" Puffinberger, Cumberland; five sisters, Kathleen Brown, Laura D'Angelo, Ester Rumor, Lucinda Rumor and Levina Wolfe, all of Cumberland; several grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Friends will be received at the Scarpelli Funeral Home, 108 Virginia Ave., Cumberland, on Monday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Services will be conducted at the funeral home on Tuesday at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Gary W. Barkley officiating.
Interment will be in Restlawn Memorial Gardens, LaVale.
