Norman William "Arkie" Bowen

September 15, 1928–

April 24, 2020

Norman William "Arkie" Bowen, age 91, died at his home April 24, 2020.

Norman was born to Thomas and Mary (Gibbons) Bowen at their home on Bradshaw Mountain near Kingston, Ark., on September 15, 1928. After completing his schooling, he began working his way towards Dayton with his cousin, Wayne Bowen. It took them three years, a number of odd jobs, and many adventures to get here. But he was here at last, without knowing this was the place he was to spend the rest of his life.

His first job in Dayton was working for the Green Giant Company driving asparagus box wagon pulled by horses. Arkie trained his horses to take voice commands when he needed them to stop and turn while he walked along the side loading the boxes.

He started farming for Dale Balch in the early '50s on the Whetstone and went to custom harvesting for various farms around Columbia County. He also worked pea harvest for Green Giant for many years. He finished his working life with McKinley Farms and Jeff Canright. Arkie harvested for 60 years.

Arkie and Dwight Fullerton worked for Pringle's Irrigation putting in pipes for the big circles in Washington and Oregon. They were in Oregon the morning Mount St. Helens blew, and they wasted no time packing it up and heading home.

Family and friends will always remember Arkie for his Harley Davidson motorcycle in his younger years, snowmobiling for fun and racing up at Tollgate, Ore. He always had at least one dog and trained them for chasing raccoons, bobcats, cougars, and rabbits. He trapped in the winters for extra income but always hunted and fished as often as he could. He loved to go mushroom hunting and was pretty good at it. Arkie always owned a jeep and took it places a rabbit couldn't go. He blazed new trails that are still being used as roads today.

He was a colorful story teller. George Touchette remembers him telling, in his Arkie accent, a story about him and some neighbor kids catfishing with green black walnuts in a gunny sack. By placing the sack at the top of a hole in the creek, the walnuts produce a nerve agent that would bring the fish to the top of the water and make fishing pretty profitable to say the least. They didn't know it would kill their neighbor's milk cow.

This life in Dayton began in 1949. He married Clarice DeFord on February 4, 1950 in a ceremony held in Dayton. They were married 70 years. They raised three children: Sherry (Tom) Roueche, David (Rhonda) Bowen, and Lowana (Jeff) Brodhead. His wife survives at the home. He has seven grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, eight nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Tom and Mary, his brother, James Bowen, and nephew, Duane Dobbs.

Graveside services will be at a later date.