John R. Bower, 84, of rural Wabash, Indiana, died at 8:02 pm, Thursday, April 6, 2023, at Parkview Wabash Hospital. He was born on August 26, 1938, in Wabash, to Jacob Bower and Marion J. (Gaston) Bower Egolf.
John was a 1957 graduate of Urbana High School. He married Judith E. Roth in Wabash on November 23, 1957. He was a trailer mechanic for Brown from Wabash Trucking, retiring in 2000, and also worked as a mechanic for Warsaw Trucking Company and Unger Trucking Company. John enjoyed working on old cars and trucks, and restoring old furniture, but his main hobby was talking to people.
He is survived by his wife, Judith E. Bower of Wabash; two children, Tracy (Scott) Berkshire of Amboy, Indiana, and Tony Bower of Wabash; three grandchildren, Erin Reahard of Wabash, Stephanie (Jeremy) Fisher of Roann, Indiana, and Brittany (Isaac) Evers of Wolcottville, Indiana; six great-grandchildren, Dylan Bower, Kaylee Hall, Madison Hall, Jaxtyn Fisher, Lillian Evers, and Oliver Evers; and his sister, Beatrice Reed of Kokomo, Indiana. He was preceded in death by his parents, infant son John Bower Jr., and three sisters, Elvajean Rouch, Doris Bever, and Muirel Tyson.
Funeral services will be 10:00 am, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Grandstaff-Hentgen Funeral Service, 1241 Manchester Avenue, Wabash, with David Phillips officiating. Burial will be in Speicher Cemetery, Urbana. Friends may call 4-7 pm Monday, at the funeral home.
Preferred memorial is Alzheimers Association.
The memorial guest book for John may be signed at www.grandstaff-hentgen.com.
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