Obituary of John F. Mowry

John Francis Mowry died May 22, 2018, at the age of 94 in Santa Cruz.   He will be missed by his family and many friends.

Born October 14, 1923, to John Francis Mowry, Sr., and Edith H. Bemis, in Santa Cruz. John attended local schools, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps at age 15, and enlisted in the U.S. Army just after Pearl Harbor, serving from February, 1942, until November, 1945.

His wartime service included combat in the Aleutian Islands where he was stationed for nearly two years followed by training as a bulldozer operator prior to embarking in Seattle in a Landing Ship Tank (LST), part of a fleet of LST’s headed for the invasion of Okinawa. He fought in Okinawa until the end of WW II.

Upon discharge from the Army he returned to Santa Cruz where he met Jean Margaret Huxtable.  They married January 5, 1947, and had two children.  Also that year he began his business, J.M. Delivery, one of 14 delivery services at the time.  His was the only delivery service in Santa Cruz when he retired in 1985. He and Jean spent many happy years during retirement traveling the Western United States in their trailer.  It was one of the most enjoyable times of their lives.

          He is survived by his son, Scott Mowry (Denise) of Paradise, CA;  his daughter, Robin Reyes (Joseph), of  Santa Cruz, CA; grandchildren, Kristopher Reyes, Devon Reyes, and Justin Reyes, all of Santa Cruz; Gregory Mowry of Paradise, CA, Kiara Mowry of Sacramento, CA, Zak Wallenburg of Paradise, CA, and Bethany Mercer (Michael) of Chico; great-grandchildren, Santiago Mowry Reyes, Katelynn Mowry Julianna Butterfield, Miles and Maela Mercer of Chico, CA.

          Preceding him in death was his wife Jean who died January 27, 2017, three sisters, Eleanor, Margaret, and Marjorie; two brothers; Lawrence and Richard; his parents, and a grandson, Michael Mowry of Chico, CA.

John’s family would especially like to Thank Sandy Polakoff and all of his neighbors on and around Woodside Ave who always showed their love and support to John and Jean.

John and Jean will be interred at California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery later this summer.

There wasn’t a dog that John met that he didn’t love. He always had dog biscuits in his pocket.  Contributions may be made in his name to the Santa Cruz SPCA, P.O. Box 3800, Santa Cruz, Ca 95063.