John Joseph Bowser, 78 years old of Bucktown, Indiana died peacefully in his sleep on October 22, 2019 after battling pancreatic cancer. He was born in Indianapolis, IN and lived most of his early adult life raising a family in Fountaintown, IN on Whispering Pines Farm in Shelby County. 

He is survived by his loving wife, Michele Bowser; daughter, Machelle Bowser Hartford (Bill), sons, Curtis Bowser and Christopher Bowser (Helen); grandchildren, Spencer Hartford, Cameron Hartford, Chloe Hartford and John Bowser II and step-children, Bill (Amy) Pugh, Alissa (Robert) Murrey, John (Elena)Pugh, Jesse (Alicia) Pugh, Lydia (Jesse) Farmer, Joshua (Blakley) Pugh, Isaac (Alicia) Pugh, Adam Pugh and Matthew Pugh.

Poker player, nature lover, farmer, builder, mechanical whiz, dare-devil, bad joke teller and red truck with a mean dog in back - are just a few ways his family and friends will remember John’s bigger than life personality. An avid story teller, some of his most entertaining stories came from the many characters he knew and worked with throughout his life. John had a seasonal vagabond childhood growing up with his seven siblings, moving south between his permanent home in Indianapolis, Ind. and escaping winters, directed by his father’s dislike of cold – and changing schools every year.  Despite being whip smart, a math genius and capable to continue his education further, John quit high school at age seventeen to assist his mother with the hardship of raising his younger siblings and providing for his family in his father’s absence due to health issues. These years of needing to work multiple physical, manual labor jobs, to provide for his family, stayed with him as a driving force for his priorities, work ethic, and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. Hard work is what he respected most in other people. He built every family home from his first to his last - and credited his father for teaching him many of the skills that he used throughout his life.

In his early years John worked as a machinist in his early twenties, thereafter worked building starter home communities with his brother and father in Indianapolis, Fairland and Fountaintown, IN.  He later built houses on his own, had an excavation business, then went on to start Bowser Enterprises, a heavy equipment rental, trucking and service company that contracted work for a large downtown Indianapolis industrial manufacturer. John was an avid outdoorsman, traveling to hunt and fish in several states in the US and Canada; he especially loved to go to untouched wild, woodland spaces and be close to nature. He loved to plant a summer vegetable garden, pick local wild berries for cobbler (his favorite) and he had a multitude of flowering tree varieties and seasonal flowers. He spent the later 12 years of his life with the love of his life on the farm called Magnolia Hill.

 John was the third eldest son of the late Edith Miller Bowser and Carl Edward Bowser. His siblings are, brothers, Carl (Buster) Jr., deceased, Robin Bowser, deceased, survived by younger brothers Louis Bowser, William Bowser and sisters, Mary Bowser Hubbard, Rita Bowser Kirkman and Virginia Bowser Hughes along with many close and extended nieces, nephews, cousins and family throughout the country. 

Funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm at Pleasantville United Methodist Church, 7654 S. Pleasant Church St., Carlisle, IN 47838, on Friday, October 25, 2019. Burial will follow at Dugger Cemetery in Dugger, IN.

Visitation will be held at the church on Friday from 11:00 am until the time of service.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Welch & Cornett Funeral Home in Linton.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sierra Club through the funeral home or through their website, www.sierraclub.org.

Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.welchcornett.com