I recently attended the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) annual conference in Tucson, Arizona at Starr Pass. The resort is secluded and away from downtown. From the resort there were a number of trails and my law school buddy, Andrew Curtis, and I took a few of them out to see the desert. We were also joined by Michael Wilder on our last evening in Tucson.

That last evening we hiked over to the Bowen House. There is an interpretive sign in the desert, a few articles online. Sherry and Ruby Bowen moved to Tucson in the 1920s from Rockford, Illinois. The change of climate was to help with her heart complications. He was a typesetter who eventually became the editor of the Arizona Daily Star. They moved to this location in 1931 and started this home while living in a cabin.

The Bowens left Tucson in 1944 and moved to New York City where Sherry Bowen worked for the Associated Press.

Of course the genealogist in me was curious about the man and woman more than the house. I found this article from Alex Jay on the Stripper’s Guide.

“Sherry B. Bowen was born Sherry Bowen Krauskopf in Maywood, Illinois, on March 13, 1900, according to the Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index at Ancestry.com. His parents were Charles C. and Mary Hort. Bowen served in the Army during World War I and on his Report of Interment card, his birth surname was crossed out and “Bowen” was written above it. A note said he had legally changed his name but the date of the change was not recorded.

“The 1900 U.S. Federal Census said Bowen was the only child and his father was a school teacher. In the 1910 census, the family still resided in Maywood and their address was 900 8th Avenue. Bowen had a younger brother, Karl, and their father was a principal and teacher.

According to the Interment card, Bowen’s Army service started May 28, 1918. He was a private in Company B, 336th Battalion, Tank Corps. He was discharged July 18, 1919.

In 1920 Bowen was a university student and still lived with his parents at the same address. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (New York), August 5, 1956, said Bowen studied at the University of Illinois and then joined the Bloomington, Illinois, Pantagraph. Bowen’s move was reported in the Daily Illini, February 1, 1922.

Krauskopf Resigns Illini Position for Job on Pantagraph

Sherry B. Krauskopf ’23 has resigned as one of the news editors of The Daily Illini to accept a position on the editorial staff of the Bloomington Pantagraph. He will leave to assume his new duties Saturday.

Krauskopf will start as a reporter but will be given a taste of the mechanical side of newspaper work and will De training on the city editor’s desk as he intends to follow the editorial phases of newspaper work.

Beginning as a reporter in his freshman year Krauskopf has rounded out five semesters of work on the staff of The Daily Illini, two years as a reporter and thus far this year he has been one of the six news editors.

The Illini, January 20, 1923, reported Bowen’s marriage to Ruby Butts.

Ruby Butts Take Vows Of Marriage To S . B. Krauskopf Another romance of The Daily Illini culminated in a wedding last night when Ruby D. Butts ’23 became the bride of Sherry Krauskopf ’23 at 7 o’clock in the home of the Rev. James C. Baker, 1209 West Green street, Urbana. Mr. Baker read the service before members of the immediate families.The date for the wedding had originally been set for June, but owing to the serious illness of the groom, the ceremony was performed last night. The bride wore a gown of black satin and Spanish lace and a corsage of American roses. Geraldine Hegit ’23, who was bridesmaid, wore blue taffeta and carried a shower bouquet of La France roses. Karl H. Krauskopf ’26, brother of the groom, acted as best man. Mrs. Krauskopf has been a member of the staff of The Daily Illini for the past three years and was society editor this year until forced to resign because of ill health. The groom was a reporter on The Daily Illini in his freshman and sophomore years and was a news editor last year.

According to the Democrat and Chronicle, Bowen moved on to the Springfield, Illinois, Register. In Tucson Arizona, Bowen was at the Independent and then worked 16 years at the Arizona Daily Star.

The 1930 census recorded Bowen, a newspaper reporter, and his wife, in Tucson on North 1st Avenue. The 1933 and 1934 Tucson city directories listed his address as Route 1, Box 399A. In 1935 he resided in the Tucson Mountains. Bowen’s address was Anklam Road in the 1936 directory.

Bowen’s home and surroundings were described at the Pima County website.

Bowen brought his wife, Ruby, to Tucson from Rockford, Ill., in the late 1920s in hopes that the climate would improve her health. Bowen was a typesetter and later city editor at the Arizona Daily Star. The Bowens homesteaded in the Tucson Mountains and began living in a cabin there in 1931 while Bowen built the house of native stone. They expanded their claim to 2,000 acres. Ruby Bowen wrote for Desert Magazine of the Southwest. Her diary of her first year in the Tucson Mountains refers to the wildlife she saw, including javelina, deer and wild mountain sheep that came to the base of the cliffs nearly every evening to graze. She wrote that a mountain lion would pace about when she was cooking meat and once attempted to get in the window.

In 1944, Bowen moved to New York City to work for the Associated Press. Some of his reporting can be read in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, the Southeast Missourian and Toledo Blade.

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Bowen wrote The Story of Santa Claus which was drawn by Ed H. Gunder and ran from December 17 to 22, 1951. The strip was syndicated by the Associated Press.

Bowen passed away August 4, 1956, in the Bronx, New York. He was buried at the Long Island National Cemetery. Bowen’s wife, Ruby, passed away November 30, 1961. Bowen and his wife are survived by a daughter, Gloria, who lives in Nevada. Ten-year-old Gloria was profiled in the Tucson Daily Citizen, March 27, 1954. 

Moving back to the Conference, it was a great chance to get reacquainted with my law school friend, Andrew Curtis. These conferences are good as I get continuing education credits for both Idaho and Utah. Nothing too earth-shattering learned, confirming much of what I knew or had forgotten. But a great opportunity to stay in a very nice resort and visit a new area.