- Date Of Birth: July 30, 1950
- Date Of Death: July 21, 2017
- State: Texas
July 30, 1950 – July 21, 2017
William “Bill” Rynbrandt Bowman, 66, husband of Judith Bowman, slipped into eternal rest Friday, June 21, 2017 in his Comfort, Texas home. Bill was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 30, 1950 to LCDR. Theodore E. and Margaret R. Bowman. As the family of a Navy Pilot, they resided in several states during Bill’s childhood. His parents and sister Ann moved permanently to Temple Terrace, Florida in 1958 where he graduated from King High School in 1968, and University of South Florida in 1972. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He packed up his VW, moved to Houston, worked for Hav-A-Tampa for several years, and returned to Tampa to marry his college love, Judith “Judy” Ryan, on March 8, 1975. He received his MBA from the University of Houston August 12, 1983.
His second love at the time was flying. He soloed on April 12, 1975 and later purchased a Cessna 150, which he flew for many years. He worked for Aviation Charter Inc. in aircraft sales from January 1976 to June 1977. Leaving the aircraft business, he joined Bank of the Southwest in the aircraft loan department as the Aviation Finance Officer from 1977 to 1980. A long standing career in the beer business began with Horlock Beverage Company of Bellaire, Texas in 1980 as Treasurer Controller. When Horlock Beverage Company sold in 1988, Bill stayed on as Vice President of Finance and Administration for United Beverage Company for 10 years. During his years in Bellaire, Bill served on the Board of Bellaire/Southwest Houston Chamber of Commerce, and as its Chairman in 1994. He was also in the Chamber’s Charter Class of Leadership 20/20 in 1993.
A new chapter in Bill’s life began in 1998 when United Beverage sold and Bill moved his family to San Antonio, Texas to become Senior VP and CFO of Halo Distributing Company. In 2010, Bill was honored as one of the Business Journal’s distinguished “Best CFO Awards” recipients in the category “Large Private Company”. Halo was purchased by Glazers Distributing in 2012 and Bill again made the move to this distributorship as Director of Finance for the San Antonio Area until his death.
Bill’s two daughters, Rachel and Roxanne, were a constant joy and source of much pride. He was always involved in their school and extracurricular activities, and through his love of the outdoors, helped the girls to create great memories from hikes, camping trips, and vacations. They perfected their own special brand of wit and humor and when they went away to college, he did not enjoy the “empty nest syndrome” at all. He missed them daily. He was kind, patient, attentive, and non-judgmental – a wonderful, caring father who adored his girls. A loving and funny husband, he and his wife enjoyed movies and wine, regular potlucks with friends, traveling to new and interesting places like Ireland, several Canadian provinces, Maui, Costa Rica, and road trips to Vermont, and the California wine country to name a few. Mostly, they worked side by side, always finding some project to update the house or backyard. Together, they could do anything except set a shower pan. He was exceptionally handy with all kinds of tools.
Besides his early years of flying, Bill owned a sailboat for several years and he and Judy loved to sail in Seabrook. He was a 2nd degree black belt in the art of American Tae Kwon Do and 1st degree in the art of Shorin-Ryu. His hobbies were hunting (his buck is in the Boone and Crocket record book), fishing, cycling (participating in the MS150 for 2 years, and various local events), clay shooting, cooking out and working on one of his many restoration projects around the house. He was content to watch endless hours of any kind of car racing, especially NASCAR, and happily got to drive one.
Bill is preceded in death by his maternal and paternal grandparents, and his father, Theodore E. Bowman.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Judith Ryan Bowman; his daughters, Dr. Rachel Kathleen Bowman and Roxanne Bowman Hickman; his mother, Margaret Rittenger Bowman; his sister, Dr. Ann Bowman; and numerous nieces, a nephew, and cousins.
