IN MEMORY – STEVE W. BOWMAN

It is with great sorrow that we report the untimely passing of Toastmaster Steve W. Bowman on July 11, 2022, of a heart attack.  An active District 39 Toastmaster, Steve was the husband of DTM Tracy Fletcher-Bowman.

Steve was a California native born January 1967, in Santa Barbara, and grew up in Porterville in the San Fernando Valley.   As a youth, Steve and his family moved to Placerville, following his father’s job in the US Forest Service as an Incident Commander.  Steve followed in his father’s footsteps for a time fighting wildland fires.

As a young man, Steve was versatile and gifted.  He attended Butte College majoring in Criminal Justice.  He later worked an undercover operation in a local high school for the Roseville Police Department’s narcotics team. He developed excellent people skills while managing a restaurant.  Steve was eventually hired by the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection.  His people skills and technical expertise led to his appointment as Supervisory CBP Officer, as which he led several different teams over the years.  His broad spectrum of knowledge and talents led to him at the same time fulfilling the additional roles of Training Instructor, Communication Management Officer, and Public Affairs Liaison.  This man of many talents was also one of the heroes who responded to Hurricane Harvey and to the Asiana Airline crash at SF International Airport in 2013.  He was eventually selected to periodically train others as an Instructional Coach for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Georgia.  Steve was a consummate professional and mentor who became well known and sought after around the country.

With all his career achievements and accolades, Steve was grounded and friendly.  He was first and foremost a wonderful family man, friend, and Toastmaster.  He loved cooking (particularly barbecue), photography, cars, motorcycles, the firing range, and home projects.  For years he was “Toastmaster adjacent” alongside his wife Tracy, but later joined Babble On Toastmasters in 2016.  He eventually joined Speaking Machine Toastmasters.  Steve was very active in both clubs as a competent speaker, a good evaluator, and a creative Table Topics responder.  His sense of humor and his talent for entertaining others was something members looked forward to each meeting.

Steve Bowman was talented, quick-witted, and someone you wanted to be near, from the very first time you met him.  Up until his untimely passing, Steve was a friend to the friendless and frequently gave of himself not just professionally, but personally with things like donating blood, helping the homeless, and offering words of encouragement to many.  He was loved and respected everywhere he set foot.

The memorial service for Steve will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2022 at the Blue Goose Event Center.  You may RSVP at stevebowmanmemorial@gmail.com.

Steve leaves behind Tracy (his loving and devoted wife of 27 years), daughter Briana, grandsons Tommy and Fletcher, and Toastmasters, admirers, and friends too numerous to mention.  He will be sorely missed.

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