William Bowie

dWilliam S. Bowie Obituary November 8, 2014 William (Bill) Scott Bowie made his entrance on the world stage on August 5, 1943 in Glasgow, Scotland. At sunrise on Saturday, November 8, 2014 after a short but difficult illness, Bill left this world in the presence of long-time friends, Dan Hubbard, Keith Blakemore, Launna Wright and Freda Wilson. He is predeceased by his father, Richard Downie Bowie and his mother, Margaret Kilgour Scott. Bill graduated with a BSc. and MSc. from the University of Glasgow in 1964. After moving to Canada in 1967, he earned a DSc. from the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario and a PhD. in Computing Science at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. His interests were diverse and included travelling the world and several countries more than once. Bill loved geocaching and did this in as many as 35 countries though he would claim 36 as Scotland was a separate country from the UK! He had a great eye for photography and many of his photos decorate the walls of his home. Since moving to Victoria in 1967 Bill has appeared with the Victoria Theatre Guild (Langham Court), Vancouver Island Opera (Pacific Opera), Victoria Actors Association as well as with the former Bastion Theatre Company as Mr. Patel in the Comedians in February 1978. Bill also played Charlie Dalrymple in Brigadoon and has sung with the late Howard Denike for four summers at the Strawberry Festival and Beacon Hill Park.' He had a great sense of humour, loved to laugh and loved life. Bills career was vast and included teaching at the University of Victoria as well as at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia on an exchange program. He was an entrepreneur and owned Victoria Personal Computers in downtown Victoria, BC for several years in the 1970s 1980s. His project management and programming skills presented many opportunities for him and he worked as a contractor for BC Systems Corporation and the Ministry of Forests in Victoria, BC. In 1999 Bill moved to Seattle to work for Volt Consulting and then Weyerhaeuser until 2006 when he made a brief return to Victoria. A short while later Bill headed to Asia for a about a year and a half before returning home in the fall of 2008. Over the course of his career, Bill forged many friendships across the globe through work, play and travels and he will be dearly missed by all. He has left an imprint on all of our hearts. We would like to thank Dr. Peter Sherk and the ICU staff at Victoria General Hospital for their compassion and care during Bills last days. Thank you to all those friends and neighbours Geoff and Joan Danvers who offered their best wishes, prayers and support. In lieu of flowers, you may wish to donate in memory of Bill to The Prostate Centre, The Heart and Stroke Foundation of British Columbia and Yukon, The Victoria Hospice Foundation, The Canadian Cancer Society or the BC Cancer Foundation that Bill supported or to a charity of your choice. An announcement regarding a Celebration of Life for Bill will be made at a later date. You may post a personal tribute to Bill at this website. ***************************************************************************************************************************** 'A tribute from one of Bills many international friends'. I have never met Bill Bowie face to face. We were always separated spatially by tens or thousands of miles. Nevertheless, we became good friends, I dare say. Bill appeared in Saint Petersburg in midsummer 2011 as a couchsurfer. After a while a better accommodation was offered to him: the hosts former apartments in a flat where the hosts parents (Mr. T., a veteran of WW II, and Mrs. T.) were living. Their remarkable hospitality, however, could not overcome definitively the language barrier. Sometimes I was called on by phone to explain more or less complicated matters to Bill. First I was told what to tell him, then the receiver there was handed over to Bill. Mrs. T. is in the habit of taking care over the cultural enlightenment of her friends and guests. So one day I tried to tell Bill as accurately as possible how he could get to the Philharmonic Hall. Fortunately my explanations did not prevent him from arriving at the right place in time. Now I know that Bill was an active geocacher. After returning home, Bill got my email in July. An idea emerged how to improve Mrs. T.s grasp of English. We decided to use Skype sessions. Teaching had been a significant part of Bills career, so probably it was a good idea. We have learned many interesting things through the sessions. We saw Bills excellent photos on the walls of the room. Bill knew that Mrs. T. was keen on gardening, so one day he took his notebook with him and went outdoors. He showed us his garden and approached the place there his good neighbour, Mr. Geoff Danvers, was inspecting his beautiful flowers in view of a rain coming on. Mr. Danvers explained the necessity to protect flowers from raindrops. We saw also Mrs. Joan Danvers in the yard. Bill was holding patiently his PC while we were talking. A separate, thrilling chapter of our course of studies consisted of Bills despathes from Central America. Surely Bill could be a brilliant reporter. Ive got 13 emails from Bill, some of them being very detailed. An impression of personal presence occurred to me as if I was enjoying San Salvador, seeing street art in La Palma, inspecting the Mayan ruins near Copan, contacting parrots in the Macaw Mountain bird park, helping a young teacher from Ireland at the El Hato school in Guatemala Without doubt, Bill was an experienced and skilled teacher. But his ability to learn was fantastic. One day we noticed Russian words in Bills messages, then expressions and later the whole phrases in Russian. Hardly he was taught Russian in the 'gymnasium' he visited three times a week. Nevertheless, in May 2012 Bill wrote about his 'limited Russian language skills' as if language skills could ever become unlimited. Among many other interesting occupations, Bill Bowie appeared as a singer. So may I cite here a piece of a beautiful Finnish song of sorrow ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlCR6QsvkWQ ): Aurinko laskee jo pitenee varjot. The sun is setting shadows growing longer. Aika on eron ja jhyvisten. It is time for parting and farewell. Poissa on ystv kallehin. Gone has the dearest friend. Niin kaunis on maa, So beautiful is the land, niin korkea taivas. so high is the sky. Soi lintujen laulusta kukkiva kunnas A blooming hillock rings with birds song, ja varjoisat veet, niin varjoisat veet. and shaded waters, so shaded waters ring.
I wish to express my sympathy and condolences to all who knew Bill Bowie and his friendship. Bill had a charming, fascinating smile. I will be remembering the shadow of his smile
Andrey A. Nikitin Saint Petersburg, Russia