Obituary of Madge Bowes

OBITUARY BOWES, Leona Madge January 26, 1919 - April 18, 2010 Leona Madge Bowes (nee Cockrum) was born on January 26, 1919 at Yoakum, Texas. She passed away on April 18, 2010, at age 91, in Spiritwood, SK. Madge was the oldest of three children born to Guernsey and Ocie Cockrum, who along with an older half-sister, lived in Yoakum, Texas until the stock market crash of 1929 when they moved a few miles to a ranch near Fordtran. In August 1934 the family emigrated from Texas to Canada at the encouragement of relatives, John and Eula Midgett who had moved to Saskatchewan in 1914. Madge`s parents anticipated taking up a homestead which would only cost them $10, however, a letter received from Eula Midgett just prior to their departure was missing the page which would have informed them that the Homestead Act had been changed and they would not be able to acquire a homestead until they had resided in Saskatchewan for 5 years. They arrived in Makwa, near Meadow Lake, SK in August and were fortunately able to purchase Hudson's Bay land for $10 per acre close to their relatives. Madge and her sister and brother walked, rode horseback or in a heated horse-drawn caboose to attend a one room schoolhouse a few miles from their home. Madge was enthralled by the adventure of living in the remote country of Saskatchewan and wholeheartedly embraced the winter and all that northern Saskatchewan had to offer, including a young gentleman, named Elmer Bowes, whose family had moved to the Makwa area from Vanscoy, near Saskatoon following the drought that hit the prairies in the late 1920s On October 9, 1937, Madge married Elmer and they moved to a homestead near Makwa. The small farm did not provide sufficient income to meet the needs of a family, which included son, Robert (Bob) born in 1940, and they moved to Bapaume, SK where Elmer took a job as Searle Grain Elevator agent. Their second child, Marilynn, was born in 1944, and their daughter, Elizabeth (Betty) in 1945. The family moved to Spiritwood in 1947 where Elmer continued as agent for the Searle Grain Co until 1958 when they purchased a General Store. Their daughter, Linda was born in Spiritwood in 1950, and daughter, Sherry, in 1957. Spiritwood was to be Madge and Elmer`s home for the rest of their lives and they were truly happy with their choice throwing themselves into the life of the community, and managing their store and dry cleaning business. Madge was actively involved in the Free Methodist Church and in the community, and took seriously her role as a wife and mother to five children. In later years she was involved in the local Writer`s Guild and the Historical Society. She was a gracious hostess, creating a warm and welcoming place for her children, grandchildren, relatives and friends. Madge was predeceased by her husband, Elmer on May 26, 2006, by an infant son in 1942, by her parents, Guernsey and Ocie Cockrum, her father and mother-in-law, Isaac and Mary Bowes, by her infant brother, Byford, her sisters, Veda Stevens and Vernell Mann, brothers-in-law, Carl Stevens and Delbert Mann, and sisters and brothers-in-law, Myrtle and Fred Emerson, Edith and Carl MacPherson, Effie and Clyde Midgett, Claude and Kay Bowes. Madge will be sadly missed by her children, Bob (Lorrie) Bowes (Banora Point, Australia), Marilynn (Dave) Ashby (Cold lake, AB.), Betty (Martin) Taylor (Spiritwood, SK), Linda (Glenn) Pilling (Spiritwood, SK), and Sherry (Zane) Olson (Estevan, SK,), her 16 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, her brother, Euvon (Joy) Cockrum and many relatives and friends. The funeral service was held in Spiritwood April 23, 2010, arrangements in care of the Beau "Lac" Funeral Home. Memorial donations can be made to the Spiritwood Idylwild Lodge Auxiliary. Email condolences may be sent to www.beaulacfuneralhome.com