Additional information provided by James Wilson
Additional information provided by Jody Smith

Last rites were held for Ira O. Bowman at 2:00 pm Saturday, September 9, 1950 at the Ayrshire Methodist Church with Rev. Dr. William Baddeley officiating. Burial followed at Silver Lake Cemetery near Ayrshire.

The community was shocked to learn of his untimely death last Wednesday. He had gone to the William Twigg farm, near Ayrshire, on Tuesday to pick apples. When he didn't return after a time members of the family went to the farm to investigate and found him lying on the ground. He had apparently fallen about 20 feet striking the truck as he fell. He was rushed to the Emmetsburg Hospital where every medical aid possible was given but he passed away the following afternoon, September 6, 1950, without regaining consciousness.

Ira Oliver Bowman was born in Raymond, IL on August 13, 1880. He grew to manhood there before coming to Iowa in 1900.

On December 4, 1902 he was united in marriage to Josephine Marie Stephas in Ayrshire. To this union fifteen children were born, two preceding him in death.
For more than fifty years Mr. Bowman has lived in and around Ayrshire, Iowa with the exception of a brief time on a farm near Spencer, Iowa. For many years he has been engaged in the trucking business and made many friends by his dependability and his honesty. He was a good husband and father and will be sadly missed by his family and friends.

He leaves to mourn his passing by his beloved wife Josephine; thirteen children including Harry of Cincinnati, OH, Hiltrude of Long Beach, CA, Raymond and Gertrude of DeKalb, IL, Bernida of Kenosha, WI, LeRoy of Laurens, Cecil and Vivian of Emmetsburg, Bernard of Curlew, Maxine, Shirley, Bob and Junior of Ayrshire. He is also survived by two sisters, Celia Sims of Waggoner, IL and Bertha Jill of Harrisburg, PA; twenty-four grandchildren and many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother.