Fonds paa-7533 - Bowen family fonds

John Campbell Bowen was born October 3, 1872 in the Osgoode Township of Ontario to Peter Bowen and Margaret Poapst; he grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. He studied at Brandon College, in Brandon, Manitoba, where he graduated with a degree in theology in 1904, and McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. While at McMaster, he met Edith Oliver, who was attending Moulton Ladies College in Toronto, Ontario; she was the daughter of Reverend George Lesley Oliver and Margaret McIntyre Oliver. John and Edith were married on October 25, 1906 in St. Mary's, Ontario. They had two daughters, Margaret Gwendolyn and Emma Ruth. John was an ordained Baptist minister, whose pastorates included Dauphin, Manitoba; Strathcona Baptist Church in Edmonton, Alberta; and Broadway Baptist Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He then became the secretary to the Education Committee of the Baptist Union of Western Canada. Returning to Edmonton in 1912, he entered the life insurance business with Mutual Life Assurance Company of Canada. During the First World War, he served as a chaplain for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was elected to Edmonton City Council in 1920 and 1921. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 1921 until 1926, and was the Liberal house leader in 1926. John unsuccessfully ran for Edmonton mayor in 1928. He was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Alberta by Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada on the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, effective March 23, 1937. In 1939 he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta. He resigned as Lieutenant Governor in 1950 for medical reasons. John C. Bowen died on January 2, 1957, at Edmonton, Alberta. Mrs. Bowen died February 20, 1975. Ruth moved to Victoria following her mother's death.