Former Calvert County Commissioner William T. Bowen passed away June 28, 2015, at the age of 85. Bowen is remembered for his role in forming the College of Southern Maryland as well as Calvert’s vocational program for high school students.
According to SoMdNews.com,
Bowen served on the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners from 1982 to 1990, as the president of the Tri-County Council of Southern Maryland from 1985 to 1987, on the Calvert Memorial Hospital Board of Directors for 17 years and on the board of directors for the Calvert County Chamber of Commerce for five years, and was involved with the Lions Club, Elks Club, the Maryland Farm Bureau, his church and more.
Eugene Karol, former superintendent of Calvert County Public Schools from 1980 to 1993 and former president of the Calvert County Board of Education, said Bowen helped re-organize the Calvert Career Center (now known as the Career and Technology Academy) and was on the commission that built the Mary Harrison Cultural Arts Center.
“All I can say is he was a real gentleman, real kind, really generous, and he really cares about the county; our schools, our children, were really important to him,” Karol said in an interview, adding that with Bowen’s support on the commission, Karol was able to make positive and effective changes in Calvert County Public Schools during his time as superintendent.
Barbara Stinnett, who served on the BOCC with Bowen, said “he tried to share so much of the old part of Calvert and he would see the future, but he had a deep respect for the traditions of Calvert County. … He saw the future, and he tired very hard to coordinate the old and the new to bring it together.”
Stinnett said Bowen attacked things with a sense of humor and “was the kind of person you just had to respect because it was the way he carried himself that demanded it.”
Stinnett said Bowen is one of the reasons why Charles County Community College became the College of Southern Maryland, which now has campuses in Calvert and St. Mary’s counties as well.
To read the full article on former Calvert Commissioner Bowen, visit SoMdNews.com.
