OBITUARY: Clarence Brown Jr.
Bowman took over the former Bowman Funeral Chapel on Germantown Street in 1989 after his father and funeral home owner Clarence Bowman Sr. died, according to Grooms.
“Both he and his father were active in the community,” Grooms said.
He said Bowman Jr. served on various boards, including Sinclair Community College’s Sinclair Foundation, Citizens Federal Savings & Loan board, and Planned Parenthood. “He was very much a business man and philanthropist within the city,” Grooms said.
Bowman Jr. is a former African American Community Fund board president. The AACF is a component fund of the Dayton Foundation, and Bowman established at least three endowment funds to help those in the community.
Grooms described Bowman as being a champion of economic independence and social responsibility.
The funeral chapel was established in 1952 and was one of the first black-owned funeral homes in Dayton.
Young met Bowman Jr. through the Buckeye State Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association, and the two had been friends since 1983. Young became the funeral director of Bowman Funeral Chapel in 2011 as a result of Bowman Jr.’s health problems.
“Clarence had a good heart. He would do whatever he could do for individuals, but he was very firm in his beliefs,” Young said.
The funeral chapel’s name changed to Bowman & Young Funeral Chapel in 2013 as a result of an order by the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, according to Young.
Bowman Jr. had a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree from The Ohio State University, according a Dayton Foundation report. He was also the owner of the Jefferson View Cemetery in Jefferson Twp., according to Grooms.
Bowman Jr. is survived by his sister Deborah Bowman, whom Groom said is an opera singer in New York.
A public viewing will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sundayat Bowman & Young Funeral Chapel, 2060 Germantown St. This service will include a memorial tribute by Sigma Pi Phi Boule’ at 6 p.m.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Monday at Bethel Baptist Church, 401 S. Paul Laurence Dunbar Ave.
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