Charles Richard "Rick" Bowen

Rick was born on 6 August 1938 to the late Charles V. and Edith L. Bowen in Decatur IL. He passed peacefully and in comfort at Integris Hospice House in NW Oklahoma City on 14 October 2022 after a long battle with multiple health conditions.

The second eldest of six children Rick was preceded in death by his parents Charles and Edith Bowen, two younger brothers Michael and Max Bowen, two younger sisters Nancy Glick, and Patricia Lickey, his wife Karen Bowen and youngest son Lee Bowen.

He is survived by his eldest sister Beverly Winkleblack and husband Richard of Forsyth IL, oldest son Rex Bowen of Norman OK, his daughter in law Delma Bowen of Jones OK, one granddaughter Alicia Bowen of Jones OK one grandson Stephen Bowen and wife Kyla of Purcell OK and their three children Madison, Tyson, and Morgan (great grandchildren).

Rick always had a quick wit and sense of humor and usually a good joke or story for any situation. He loved his family dearly and was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

Living life to the fullest starting from an early age, in his late teens and early 20’s he was a Golden Gloves boxer and was two time City Champion for his weigh division in his home city of Decatur IL.

He served in the US Naval Reserve in IL for a brief period then joined the US Air Force where he spent 8 years serving as a flight mechanic and crew chief on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. He traveled the Unites States and had many overseas duty locations during his service. One duty station was the old Ardmore Airbase where he served in the 773rd TAC and was present when the first C-130’s arrived in Ardmore. During his time in Ardmore, he met and married Alice Shepard (formerly of Sulphur OK) in 1960.

Rick and family returned to Sulphur in 1970, where he went to work for Dolese Brothers working at both the Rayford Quarry as well as the Davis Quarry where he retired as a scale house clerk in 2000. He married Karen Runner formerly of Mattoon IL in 1978 and they lived in Davis and dearly loved the small town life.

He was a long time marathon runner and triathlete until his mid-50’s when his knees finally wore out. He and Karen traveled all over OK and several other states for his various events where he won numerous medals and trophies for his age group. Most people in and around Murray County probably remember seeing him for several years running down the side of any given highway or local road with his faithful dog and running partner Sugar close by. He and Karen took many vacations together and enjoyed returning to Illinois to see their family as often as possible. He also loved to play guitar and sing at any local event where there was an open mike. He enjoyed country dancing and belonged to a couple of the area square dancing clubs before his health declined. His last few years he enjoyed going to the various Senior Citizens Centers in the surrounding area where he had many friends. He was a big fan of auto racing and was a close follower of NASCAR, Indy Car and Formula 1 especially if they drove a Ford, or for A.J. Foyt or the Wood Brothers. He enjoyed building plastic model kits everything from sailing ships to airplanes to various race cars.

Rick was a member of Pathway Church in Davis and loved going there and attending the various events they had until he was physically unable to any longer.

One of the last conversations he had was that he had so many friends and owed so many people a debt of gratitude for their help and friendship along the way. Please tell them thank you.

So from Rick and his family thank you to all.

Cute story: There was an old radio show called Captain Midnight and his Secret Squadron that Rick loved as a child. It was sponsored by Ovaltine breakfast drink. If you sent in so many proofs of purchase they would send you a “secret squadron decoder ring”. He begged and pleaded with his mother to buy Ovaltine when she would go to the store. Money was tight but somehow he would get enough Ovaltine eventually to send of for his decoder ring. He NEVER received it. He said that he never really liked Ovaltine anyway but only drank it to get this ring. He was telling that story one day about how he was still disappointed about not getting his ring 40 years earlier. Karen got the idea to send a letter to the makers of Ovaltine telling his story and how disappointed that little boy was. One day he received an envelope in the mail with his Secret Squadron Ring in it and an apology from Captain Midnight. He was so happy.

Cute Story: He loved to tell the joke that his family was so big with 6 kids and 2 adults, and money was so tight that his Dad would go to the grocery store and buy one pork chop. His Mom would cook it and tie it to a ceiling fan blade over the table and it would swing around so everyone could get a bite of it.

Obituary lovingly written by the family of Rick Bowen.