Anthony L. Bowen

Dec. 31, 1937 - July 4, 2018

Jul. 26, 2018

Star Staff

Anthony Lee Bowen of Montauk and formerly of Park Ridge, N.J., died on July 4 at St. Catherine’s Hospital in Smithtown. He was 80 and had been unwell since last autumn.

He was born in Park Ridge on Dec. 31, 1937, a son of George Bowen and the former Eleanor Herbert, and grew up there. After graduating in 1960 from Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt., he returned home to work with his parents, uncle, and brother at Bowen & Bowen, accountants and auditors, a family business. His daughter and son-in-law eventually joined the business as well.

In 1962, during the Cuban missile crisis, Mr. Bowen served in the Naval Air Force. He and his wife, the former Eileen O’Brien, had been married the year before and spent their honeymoon in Montauk; they eventually bought a house there, where he enjoyed paddling about and fishing. After he retired in 2008, the Bowens split their time between Montauk and Stowe, Vt. Mr. Bowen skied there as much as possible, even during his last winter, his daughter said, adding that he was known for his love of the outdoors, his big smile, and his enthusiasm for life, “which he shared with all he met.”

In addition to his wife and daughter, Jennifer Bartz of Park Ridge, he is survived by two sons, Geoffrey Bowen of Montauk and George Bowen of Reading, Mass. He also leaves a brother, Peter Bowen of Montauk and Montvale, N.J., and four grandchildren.

Mr. Bowen, who was cremated, was a parishioner of St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, Blessed Sacrament in Stowe, and Our Lady of Mercy in Park Ridge, where Msgr. James Turro offered a funeral Mass on July 9.

Memorial donations have been suggested for the Stowe Public School Friday Scholarship Fund, 413 Barrows Road, Stowe, Vt. 05672, which enables schoolchildren to participate in a weekly ski-and-ride program.

Correction: An earlier version of this obituary misidentified Mr. Bowen's daughter. She is Jennifer Bartz. That version also listed an incorrect maiden name for Mr. Bowen's mother. Her maiden name was Herbert.