James W. Bowers

James Whyte Bowers of South Kingstown R.I. passed away peacefully on Thursday, November 30th.

He was 87 years old. Born in Boston, he was the son of Hazel Whyte Bowers and Frederick Edmund Bowers of Marblehead Massachusetts.

Jim graduated in 1954 from St. Paul's School in Concord N.H. and Williams College Class of 1958. He spent two years in the Army during the Cuban crisis. He met his wife Susan Robinson in Boston and married in Wakefield R.I. on the Robinson Family Farm in 1964. After a honeymoon in Bermuda, they lived in Marblehead for 25 years where they brought up their daughters Lisa and Linda.

Jim owned the Parisian Cleansers and Furriers in Lynn, Mass. with additional plants in Salem, Peabody and Danvers. He established the largest specialty drapery cleansing business in New England. His furrier business stored 10,000 fur coats in an underground vault. He was active with the Cleansing Plant Owners of Massachusetts and President of the Leather and Suede Cleaners of America headquartered in Chicago.

Jim was active in Lynn. He served as President of the Rotary Club, the Greater Lynn YMCA and Trustee of the Eastern Bank. He was also a Trustee of the McCarthy Family Foundation in Boston and Peabody. He represented the Greater Lynn United Fund in negotiations with Boston which resulted in the creation of the Greater Boston United Way. He spent several years in the marine business and ended his career founding Bowers, Mayer and Company, a small corporate merger and acquisition association located in Boston.

He was a member of the Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead for 35 years. He served as House Committee chairman for four years and a member of the Race committee for several years. He and Susie spent the happiest days of their life cruising the waters of New England in their beloved 40 foot lobster yacht ' Caribou '.

Jim retired in 1986 to live the good life in Rhode Island. He moved and managed the Robinson Family Farm with its small herd of black Angus cows, 80 acres of hay fields, several homes and buildings. He belonged to the Dunes Club in Narragansett and the North-South Bowling League in Wickford. Jim thoroughly enjoyed life in RI and the lifestyle available to him on the farm and surrounds. The farm was gifted to the South County Land Trust in 2016.

Jim's greatest enjoyment was his family. His wife and daughters were his life. Besides the best ever wife for 59 years, he leaves his beloved daughter Lisa W.B. Walker and her husband Andrew of Westwood Massachusetts, their children Drew and Ashley; daughter Linda Bowers of Exeter R.I.; his niece Pamala Notman and her husband Donald and their three children Anson, Alexander and Emily of Wellesley MA; his nephew Frederick E. Bowers II and his son Nico of Becket MA; and sister in-law Sandra Bowers of Vero Beach, Florida and Kennebunk Beach ME. Jim is pre-deceased his brother Frederick W. Bowers.

Funeral and burial services will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the South County Hospital, 100 Kenyon Ave. Wakefield R.I. 02879.