ST
JOHNS CEMETERY, MAURY COUNTY, TENNESSEE
BOWIE, Nora Esther Clemens, d. 12 Sep 2009 in Columbia, Tn., (Jackson Co., Al.
native; dau. of Thomas Samuel Clemens and Nancy Ellen Black Clemens; attended
Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans, La.; mar. 2 May 1935 to Wade Hampton
Bowie, he passed away 18 Jan 1996; she owned and managed Columbia Hardware Co.
from 1950 to 1960.)
Nora Esther Clemens Bowie, 96, Columbia businesswoman and long-time resident of
West Seventh Street, died Saturday, September 12, 2009 at Maury Regional Medical
Center. Mrs. Bowie also had maintained a residence in the Florida Keys for a
number of years.
Funeral services conducted at St. Peter's Episcopal Church with The Reverend
Richard Zalesak officiating. Burial in St. John's Churchyard at Ashwood.
Born and reared on a farm in Jackson County, Alabama, she was the daughter of
the late Thomas Samuel Clemens and Nancy Ellen Black Clemens.
She attended Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans, Louisiana and did additional
work at Florence State Teachers' College in Florence, Alabama.
On May 2, 1935, she married Wade Hampton Bowie. Their marriage spanned 60 years
until his death January 18, 1996.
A wonderful wife and mother, Mrs. Bowie was also a remarkable businesswoman. She
managed the family-owned Columbia Hardware Company from the mid-1950s until it
was sold in the early 1960s. Subsequently, she owned and operated several Merle
Norman Cosmetic Studios in Southern Kentucky from the late 1970s and continued
to be a silent partner in existing studios at the time of her death.
She was a member of the American Business Women's Association (ABWA) and, at one
time, was president and 1980 Associate of the Year of the local organization in
Bowling Green, Kentucky. She was also a Kentucky Colonel and Businesswoman of
the Year in 1982.
Survivors include her children, Barbara B. Hopkins of Birmingham, Alabama,
Vivian A.(Tom) Pilant of Columbia, South Carolina; Wade Hampton Bowie, Jr. of
Topeka, Kansas, and Thomas Clemens (Jan) Bowie of Carefree, Arizona; eleven
grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a sister, Ira Cotton and three brothers, James
Clemens, Guy Clemens, and Aubrey Clemens.
Active pallbearers are Noel Hopkins, Wade H. Bowie, II, James C. Bowie, Wade
Hopkins, Mark Craft, William Hansard, and Patrick Harlan. Honorary pallbearers
include Robert L. Wall, David H. Bowie, and LT (jg) Christopher T. Bowie.
Obituary compiled and sent by Mary Bob McClain
Richardson 28 Jul 2016.