Obituary of Janet Atkinson Bowman

Born and raised in San Francisco, she was the only child of Eva Gruninger and Hal Atkinson. Jan was very proud of her mother's career as an opera singer (Contralto) with the SF Opera (1929-35) and recalled accompanying her mother to her many radio performances in the Bay Area, S. California and Canada. As a young girl, she was amused by the imaginary details of her life that radio publicists dreamed up for their audiences. Her father operated one of the many lumber mills that once lined the Oakland Estuary in the late 1800's & early 1900's. Jan attended Stanford University where she was president of her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and fought to keep sororities as part of campus life. (They lost, with sororities being banned from 1944 until 1977.) After graduation, Jan was hired by IBM in San Francisco, where she met her future sister-in-law Mary Bowman as well as long-time friend & local resident Mariellen Boone Pierce Powers of Seabright. Mary and Mariellen introduced Jan to Mary's brother, Bryant Bowman, who had recently returned home to Belvedere (Marin County) from a Japanese POW camp. Bry was an Air Force P-51 pilot who'd been MIA in Burma for 2 years and thought to be dead. A courtship ensued that included visits to Seabright, and the couple were married in June 1948 at Jan's mother's home in SF. Bry's employment with Ford Motor Co. took them from Belvedere to Antioch, Palo Alto, San Jose and then leaving CA in the late '50's for Ohio, Ontario (Canada) and Missouri; finally returning home to CA in 1975. There was also a stay in San Angelo, TX when Bry was recalled as a reserve Flight Instructor during the Korean War. (Jan often inferred that this was the first foreign country in which they lived.) Along the way Jan & Bry raised 4 children: Sue Bowman (husband Jim Raun-Byberg) of Santa Cruz, Jim Bowman (wife Gail) of Tahoe Pines/Lake Tahoe, John Bowman (dec. 2010) and Ki Bowman (husband Michael Liles) of Santa Cruz. Jan also leaves her one niece, Debbie Melnikoff (husband George) of Santa Cruz. Debbie is the only child of Mary Bowman (Ingram.) The family enjoyed sailing & skiing, plus learning to sail iceboats, ice skate, & play ice hockey. But their favorite time was the month of July, when they travelled by car from whichever locale in which they were residing, to Third Avenue in Seabright. Reunited each summer with 3 generations of family under one roof, so much fun was had that all the "children" either live here now, or did so at one time. Also surviving Jan are grandchildren: Chris Bowman (wife Jackie) of Tahoe City, Shelly (Bowman) DiLuccia (husband Nick) of San Diego, Chelsea (Liles) Brunetti (husband Brian) of Encinitas, and Bryant & Garreth Bowman of San Jose. Jan was happy to learn she became a great grandmother to Addisyn Mae Bowman (Tahoe City) this past May. Jan enjoyed sailing the SF Bay and cruising to Santa Cruz and the Delta on their Ericson sailboat, & later their Grand Banks powerboat. Golfing and skiing were replaced with hiking the Marin hills and Sierras, along with volunteer work as a nature docent with Marin County schoolchildren. A Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society and Sierra Club member for decades, she became an avid birder & gardener who taught about composting & recycling long before they became household terms, or mainstream practices. Her long membership in the Great Books Society fostered a love of literature in her children. During her prime, she was a prolific letter writer who utilized onionskin Air Mail stationary to save on postage costs, (Yes, she had a little postage scale.) Jan's last years were spent at Dominican Oaks, where she had excellent attention and care. The family also is grateful for extra special care from all her outside caregivers from Florence Kuo HHC. Cristina Baca and Shannon Donato, especially, remain in our hearts. The family will be gathered in Santa Cruz for the Thanksgiving holiday, which was by far Jan's favorite annual event, so it will be a fitting time to honor her memory. Jan is sailing free again.