Millard Bowersox

We are only given so many years on this earth and no matter how many possessions or how much money we leave behind, our legacy is always determined by our character and the way we lived. Millard Bowersox legacy is founded in honesty, a strong sense of ethics, humor, and above all else, love. Millard fulfilled many roles in his lifetime - he was a loving and devoted husband to his wife Elma, a caring father and grandfather to his children and grandchildren, and a hard working provider for his family. He set the standard for others to follow.

In the early part of the 1910’s the country was in the midst of great change. Woodrow Wilson was President and the steel and textile industries were becoming the backbone of American industry. However, life in rural Michigan was much the same as it had been a generation before. Harry and Edith Bowersox were living in the small Michigan community of Vicksburg and awaiting the birth of their first child. When their son was born, they named him Millard. Six years later, Millard was joined by a baby sister, Beatrice. Sadly, Edith died just one week after giving birth, leaving Harry with a young son and a tiny baby to care for. Harry, wanting the best for his children, sent baby Beatrice to live with an aunt and young Millard stayed with his father.

Millard grew up in Vicksburg and enjoyed sports. After graduating from Vicksburg High School, during the early days of the Great Depression, Millard enrolled in Western Normal College – now Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo – and studied business for the next two years. His love of sports continued during these years and he was the pitcher for the college baseball team. As an amateur boxer, Millard was also in several Golden Gloves competitions. His ball playing continued as he played on the Allied Paper Office Softball Team until he was forty years old.

Millard met the lovely Elma Hinkley, while attending Vicksburg High School and continued to date her while she worked as a Dental Assistant for Dr. Yates in Vicksburg. After three years of courtship, Millard and Elma were married on June 18, 1939. Shortly after, they moved to nearby Kalamazoo to a home on Stockbridge Avenue. With a new wife to support, Millard went to work for the former Allied Paper Company in Kalamazoo. With his education in business and a superb mind for math, Millard started out in the accounting office. Over the next thirty-eight years, with his strong math ability and tremendous sense of recall, he rose to office general manager and was eventually named Chief Accountant, retiring in the early 1970’s.

In 1940, Millard and Elma were blessed with a son of their own, Gary, and two and a half years later, welcome their second son, Dennis. Having been brought up in a time when family values were important, Millard worked to instill these same values in his sons. Although sometimes considered strict, he was still very family oriented, and dearly loved Gary and Dennis.

It was very important to Millard that he teach his sons to fish, hunt, play ping pong and cards. On weekends and vacations he always included his sons and wife in fishing trips and times at northern Michigan cottages. Millard and Den played doubles in ping pong against Elma and Gary every night at home for over eight years. They would bet one nickel per game. Millard even played in some ping pong tournaments with his sons.

Millard and Elma had many shared interests and enjoyed spending time together. They became active in the Stockbridge United Methodist Church, and at one time Millard served as their treasurer. They played a popular card game called Pedro, which is similar to Euchre, and for over fifty years, played with the same four couples in the Pedro Card Group. As he had as a young man, Millard continued to enjoy sports. He bowled and played golf, and had the honor of having scored two holes-in one during his lifetime. He was also a very skilled ping-pong player.

In the late 1960’s Millard and Elma moved to Schoolcraft and after retirement, spent the next twenty-one years traveling to Florida to escape the cold Michigan winters. When their son Gary moved to Hawaii, they took fourteen different trips to the islands, to visit their son and family.

As time went on, Millard and Elma’s health began to decline and they both needed help with their daily activities. This was a difficult thing for Millard to accept, for he had always valued the control and independence he had over their day-today affairs.

Honest, frugal, very private, Millard Bowersox worked hard to provide for his family. Completely devoted to his wife, and a faithful father to his sons, Millard was a man who will be dearly missed and whose character will never be forgotten in the hearts and minds of all his family and friends.

Millard Bowersox, age 96 died at his home Friday August 29, 2008, after 69 years of marriage with Elma present at the time. In addition to his wife, members of Millard’s family include his children; Gary (Myrleen) Bowersox and Dennis (Lauri) Bowersox, granddaughters; Brandi, Bree, Corry and Blair and a great-granddaughter Brooke. He was preceded in death by his sister Beatrice Peck. Funeral services for Millard will be at 12:00 noon Thursday at the Life Story Funeral Home-Vicksburg, 409 S. Main St. 649-1697. Please visit Millard’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you can archive a favorite memory or photo and sign his guest book before coming to the funeral home.