Virginia Bowen's Obituary

Below is Virginia Bowen's Obituary, as it will appear in the local newspaper in McMinnville, OR

OBITUARY FOR L. VIRGINIA BOWEN

       Lois Virginia (“Ginny”) Bowen was born August 13, 1923, in Santa Rosa, CA, the first child of L. Victor Bowen and Dr. Gwendolyn Thomas Bowen.  She died peacefully on October 9, 2013, at the age of 90 at the Hillside Retirement Community Skilled Nursing Facility.

       Ginny grew up in Santa Cruz, CA, where she graduated from high school.  Subsequently, in 1945 she graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, with a B.A. degree in a pre-medical major.  During the next five years she taught elementary school for two years (one in Kentucky under the Kentucky Mountain Mission and another in public school in Tulare County, CA), completed the Graduate Program at the Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, OR, studied Japanese language at the University of California at Berkeley, and took the Summer Institute of Linguistics at the University of Oklahoma in 1950.

       In 1950 Ginny sailed to Japan as a Christian missionary under the Conservative Baptist Foreign Missionary Society.  This was in response to General Douglas MacArthur’s appeal for America to send 1,000 Christian missionaries to Japan.  Her first 17 years in Japan were spent in the northwest part of the main island of Honshu.  She first worked in the cities of Aomori and Sendai but then spent the next 13 years in the coastal city of Ishinomaki where she was part of a team engaged in church-planting.  During this time Lorraine Fleischman became her missionary co-worker and their association continued for the rest of her life. 

       In 1968 she and Lorraine were invited to move to the Tokyo/Yokohama area and join the staff of Japan’s Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship working with university students.  They continued in this effort until retirement.   In addition, during this time they formed Neighborhood Bible Studies of Japan.  One of Ginny’s gifts was ability with the Japanese language, which was applied to editing and publishing a series of Bible study guidebooks in Japanese for this organization.  Much of Ginny and Lorraine’s time was spent with people in their neighborhood.  As a result of this outreach, many turned to Jesus Christ and eventually formed their own church.

       In 1987 it seemed time to retire from their work in Japan and leave it in Japanese hands.  They first retired to Corvallis, OR, where they were able to continue much of their Bible study work.  Finally, in 1998, they moved to the Hillside Retirement Community in McMinnville, OR.

       Ginny was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Bruce.  She is survived by a nephew and two nieces plus her long-term missionary partner Lorraine Fleischman.  Ginny suffered a minor stroke about ten years ago and her health began a steady decline.  She entered heaven and Jesus’ presence on October 9, and her memorial service will be held at the Hillside Retirement Community in the Manor Activity Room on Saturday, October 26, at 2 p.m.