Josie Bowdoin, 83, of Tampa, FL, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 4, 2008 in the afternoon at home surrounded by her loving family and LifePath Hospice.
Born in Norwich, CT, she moved here in 1969 after living abroad with her husband. She was a homemaker and member of Forest Hills United Methodist Church. She was a worldwide traveler and avid football fan, favoring the Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys. She enjoyed knitting and solving crossword puzzles.
She was preceded in death by her son, Alto C. Bowdoin, III. Survivors include her husband of 64 years, Alto ’Criss’; two daughters, Terri Acevedo of Tampa and Carol Pruitt of Louisville, KY; a sister, Viola Marciniak of Norwich; six grandchildren, six great grandchildren, and a great-great grandson.
Criss, my deepest sympathy to you, and your family, and my blessings to Josie = may she rest in peace, and may you all find comfort in knowing she will always be remembered and loved by all who knew her. Judy
Our thoughts and prayers are
with you and your family.
Mr. Bowdoin,
Sorry to hear about your loss, our deepest sympathy.
God bless you and your family.
Tammie, Bonnie, Dr. Wiest, and Dawn
Criss, Terri, Carol and extended family:
I am saddened to hear of Josie’s passing and your loss. Josie was a remarkable women and a second mother to me. My heart goes out to all of you in your time of loss.
Sincerely,
Karyn Van Der Meulen – Kass
Mr. Bowdoin,
It is an honor to be asked to take care of your wife’s arrangements. I want to thank you and your family for inviting me into your home and tell you how truly sorry I am for your loss. Veterans Funeral Care and myself wish all of you the best at this difficult time. Yours truly,
With sympathy, I remember Josie fondly from our time together in Hawaii. God Bless!
I will miss you Aunt Josie. I have many fond memories of you and Uncle Criss.
Love to you and your family and please say hi to my parents when you join them.
You are in our hearts and prayers.
Love,
Tanae, Kip, and Amber
Mr. Bowdoin, Terri, Carol and family. I share your loss and wish you peace as I’m sure your wife and Mother is at last at peace. Terri, will you please explain who I am to your Dad? Bless you all, Carol.
GRANDPA, SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU! LOVE AND MISS YOU! TERESA AND EMILY PRUITT
Aunt Josie was such a sweet soul…my love to all of you.
We are very sorry for your loss of this wonderful partner in life. Our prayers are with you during this time. Clem and Dawna Marino
I just want to send my prayers out to you and your family. Theresa is a wonderful person and I have no doubt that she is everything beautiful like her dear mother and father. May God be with you and yours doing this time of need
Uncle Jr.,Terri,Carol, and all of the family. My thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. I know Aunt Josie and Alto are having a wonderful blessed reunion. Aunt Josie had such a sweet, gentle way about her. I know if possible that she is going to be your guardian angel! I pray God holds you in his arms and comforts you. Love you!
Terri,
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time.
My sympathies are with Terri, Alto, Scooter and your families. Josie was obviously a wonderful person. I feel certain of this because I have known Terri for over 30 years and she has so many wonderful qualities. The loss is I am sure so very painful for all of you and my prayers are with you. The Lord blessed you with her and I am sure she felt blessed by her family. God bless you all. Sharon
I’ll miss Granny! She inspired me a great deal. And because of her, I am the person I am today. She helped shape my personality and my character. She’ll be sorrowly missed, until we meet again in Heaven!
I loved hearing stories about Terri’s mom while we worked together. Terri would come in and just go on and on about her parents and I just loved hearing the stories and to see the love that she had for them. Rest in Jesus and know that I am praying for you during this hard time.
Terri has been a good friend of mine for 17 years now. She has told me many stories about her youth and about her mom and dad. She was always so excited when she told me her stories about her parents. I know Terri became the person she is now by the love they gave her. I am so sorry for your loss but I know that heaven is a better place today with her mom there.
Doug
When I think of Aunt Josie, I see a warm sweet smile and hear her soft voice that included specific inflections when she was trying to make a point or when she wanted to express her displeasure. She was a lovely person and I loved the chance to visit her in Orlando when I was a child. I remember how organized her home was, how she tenderly cared for Alto and the lazy mornings when we all prepared breakfast together. We always went to church together and enjoyed warm summers filled with fun. Like my mother their primary focus was their family and both were so proud of their children. I loved Aunt Josie’s enthusiasm for the Bucks and her staunch allegiance to the Democrats. She was the first person to ever give me advice about how to act like a lady and I always felt she cared. Both Aunt Josie and Uncle Criss were so accepting of others and were not judgemental.I know she will enjoy her welcome from my mom and they have so much to catch up on. I am comforted to know she is pain free and will begin the life she has prepared herself for here on earth. My heart is with Uncle Criss, Carol and Terri while they adjust to their loss. We are never ready to say goodbye but God has a special angel now that Aunt Josie has been welcomed to heaven. I will close my eyes and feel her warm kiss and embrace and see her sweet smile. She was such a lovely lady.
Love, Sheila
Criss, Terri, and family:
I am saddened to hear of Josie’s passing and your loss. Josie was a remarkable women and a wonderful neighbor for the past 10 years. My heart goes out to all of you in your time of loss.
Dear Chriss, Carol, Terri and family,
During these times, there are so many emotions, sadness for the loss, anger for them leaving you behind, and finally reality that they are gone and in a better place waiting for you. Anyone who has been together for any length of time and lose their loved one, can and will go through these emotional steps. For every tear that falls, another angel gets her wings. She was a wonderful person, and someone who will be missed by all who knew her. As my sister Sheila said, we had fond memories of staying with the family as children on our summer vacations. We will always remember all of our family get togethers. She was my favorite aunt.
Uncle Jr, Carol, Terri, Scooter, Connie, Glenn and Chris,
Our thoughts and prayers go out to you as you adjust to this sad change in your lives. Aunt Josie’s spirit of kindness, patience and gentleness will be with all of us forever. I Jane think back over my 57 years, and my memories of Aunt Josie are always happy ones. She accepted me without judgement; she treated me with kindness and unconditional love each time I was with her. It seems so simple, yet these qualities are the most profound qualities a human can attain. We love you all.
I am very close with Terri and over the years I’ve always admired her so much for how loving and caring she was towards her mother. I am very sorry for your loss…
Uncle Criss, Terri and Carol:
Aunt Josie was always so soft spoken, but her loving smile said it all! Our loss is certainly Heaven’s gain! I am sure all the Bowdoin Clan was up there to welcome her!
You are in our thoughts and prayers as you go through this difficult loss.
Love, Jim, Jan, Shirley, Sherry, Shea, Sara and Summer
I hate that grandma had to leave us. She will be truely missed. I know I miss the prayers she praid for us all. I look foward to seeing her again. Grandpa, I hope you know that I pray that it gets less and less painful with each passing day and that you remember all the wonderful memories a lifetime holds.
Dear Criss, for over 30 years you and Josie have been part of “our family”. My deepest sympathy to you and your family. I know you shared a special love between each other. You were blessed with so many years together. Love you, Sandi Cassel
Uncle Jr.,Terri,Carol and grandchildren
I am sorry for the great lost we all feel with Aunt Josie’s passing. Her sweet spirit and kindness seems to permeate every written and spoken work I have heard and seen about Aunt Josie since she went home. With more Bowdoin’s in heaven then here on earth I’m sure she was treated to a very special homecoming. Uncle Jr. and girls thank you for the way you took care of Aunt Josie I saw the love and care she recieved on many different occasions. In the times we live in it was great to see the level of your commitment you had for her.
Condolences to your family. We have many happy memories of Chris, Josie and kids,when they took our daughters, Diane and Janice under their wings in Hawaii in 1960. We gained a friendship that lasted many years. Our visits to Hawaii and when you visited us in So. San Francisco. Our girls enjoyed their fun times together. Our love and best wishes to you.
The Furber Family
Dear Brother in Christ, Criss: I first met you and Josie while doing outreach ministries from Forest Hills United Methodist Church in 1995. You both blessed my heart during my visits at your home. I have very fond memories of those years but I think the thing that struck me most about the two of you was how committed you were to each other; caring, loving, sharing and you – Criss – taking care of Josie during her times of physical need. Just plain devotion is what is was and it spoke volumes to me! Thank you both for being such a testimony of God’s plan for a marriage – I saw the love, God’s love, in both of you. My love and prayers to you Criss and your family members during this time of loss a grief -I praise God for allowing you and Josie 60+ years of true partnership. In His Service and Love, Sally Baker
I never knew Mrs. Bowdoin, but after attending her funeral service, I’m so sorry I missed that chance. The love that poured from all the family and friends I met that day proves what a special person she was. As a freind of her grandson, I’d like to say thank you to Josie for helping to shape Michael into the special friend he is.
Although I never met Josie it was apparent at her beautiful service how well she was loved by family and friends. As a friend of her grandson “Scooter”, I was honored to share the celebration of her life.