back to home page  

back to KHS Teachers

back to Klemme School

Glenn Reno Bowles

1918 - 1996

BOWLES, Glenn R. (1918-1996)

Glenn Reno Bowles
July 15, 1918 – November 20, 1996

Fighter-turned-referee Bowles dies at age 78

Glenn “Bodge” Bowles, 78, a decorated Army officer, high school teacher, long time college football field official, and the man who directed the Iowa Military Draft during a stormy period of history, died of brain cancer Wednesday at Village Healthcare Center in Indianola.

Mr. Bowles headed the Iowa Selective Service System for 16 years, from the middle of 1950s to the early 1970s, a period that included the Vietnam War and an increasingly hostile attitude from civilians toward the military.

Friends said Mr. Bowles diplomatic attitude, gentle wit and generally civil manner carried him through what could have been some serious confrontations at that time.

Mr. Bowles was born on a farm near Agency in Wapello County. He graduated from Simpson College, where he was a star basketball player and years later was named to Simpson’s Sports Hall of Fame.

He taught high school both before and after WWII in towns including Klemme, Murray, Indianola, and Des Moines.

He enlisted in the Army before the start of the War and as the War progressed he was promoted from private to captain. He served in an infantry division in Africa and Italy, winning the bronze star, purple heart and other decorations.

Later, in reserve duty assignments, Mr. Bowles reached the rank of Colonel.

Mr. Bowles moved to Washington, D. C. in 1971 to become operations manager of the National Selective Service System. In 1976 President Ford appointed Mr. Bowles to head the Clemency Program, which was set up to deal with Vietnam-Era military deserters and draft evaders.

Mr. Bowles returned to Des Moines later that year to become head of the Iowa Commission on Aging, a job he held until he retired in 1983.

He was a well-known college basketball referee, working Big Eight and Missouri Valley Conference games for a year, but gained better prominence in football, where he was a Big Eight field official 13 years. This let to assignments at the Orange, Sugar, and Sun Bowls.

He was a member of the Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Indianola and Indianola Noon Lions Club and was past potentate of Za-Ga-Zig shrine.

Among survivors are his wife, Marietta; three daughters, Jeanne Bowles of West Des Moines, Patricia Macomber of New Freedom, PA, and Dorothy Blansit of Burlington, KY.; a son, Glenn II of Ann Arbor, MI.; four sisters, Dixie Blake of Indianola, Libby Blake of Carlisle, Edna Herway of Arthur, W. VA., and Lois Allen of Dewey, Ariz.; two brothers, George of Sellersburg, Ind.; and Jack of Lebanon, Ohio; and seven grandchildren.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Smith Chapel on Simpson College campus. Burial of the cremains will follow at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery. The family will visit with friends from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Overton Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Bodge Bowles scholarship fund at Simpson College.

[Father’s name was Elmer Bowles, enlisted in U.S. Army, May 6, 1941 at Fort Des Moines, discharged Feb 10, 1946, served overseas Nov 3, 1943 to Nov 1, 1945]

source: Register, Des Moines, Iowa, 21 Nov 1996, page 7M, column 1

 

************************************************************