Obituary of Melville Bryant Bowman

Valley home on Monday, January 9, 2012. His life was prolonged by the care he received through Hospice and the loving ministrations of his caregivers. He remained active until the end of his life, rarely missing the opportunity to join a family outing. Bry was born in San Francisco, CA on April 8, 1917 to Helen and Melville Bowman, Sr. His youth was marked by both Prohibition and the Depression, with his family living, briefly, in New York, Colorado and Nevada before settling back in the Bay Area in the 1930's. Bry, his mother, and his sister, Mary, spent part of the Depression on the family cattle ranch in Beowawe, Nevada, a great adventure for a boy in his teens. He graduated from Tamalpais High School in 1935. Bry learned to fly at a young age and was employed flying tours over Lake Meade and the Grand Canyon. He also worked as an engineer on the newly-completed Hoover Dam for awhile. He was called to active duty in the Army Air Corps in 1943, flying P-51's in India. He was declared MIA after being captured during his first wartime mission and spent 18 months in a Japanese prison camp in Burma. After the war, Bry married Janet Atkinson, also of San Francisco. It was a partnership that would last 63 years and be filled with raising a family, building a "dream" home in the hills above San Jose and then leaving it to follow his career across the country and into Canada with Ford Motor Co. He was a terrific father, being very much a big kid himself. There were tree forts, ice rinks, sailboats and haunted houses--all created to delight his four children. He could design, build and fix just about anything. Missing San Francisco, he spent years perfecting his sourdough baking technique, using a century-old Basque starter and inventing a steam injector for the oven. Family was always a priority. Bry would lead the annual migration back to California each summer to spend a month with his extended family in a ramshackle old house in Seabright. "Road trip" took on a whole new meaning when done with four young children and a labrador retriever from Toronto to Santa Cruz. Everyone survived and some cherished memories were forged during those times. Retirement brought Bry back to California. He and Jan enjoyed many years of sailing on the San Francisco Bay and Delta, traveling and enjoying visits from his grown children and grandchildren. He and Jan ultimately moved to the Santa Cruz area to shorten the distance of those visits. Bry was a kind soul and a gentle man who lived his life with integrity, humility and a wry sense of humor that charmed us all. He will be remembered often and missed very, very much by those who had the privilege to know him.