Mary Theresa Bowen (Bowling), age 86 from La Plata, Maryland, passed away March 27, 2018 at Bickford Senior Living in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Born November 28, 1931 in Newport, Maryland, she was the daughter of the late Gladys Pauline Herbert Bowling and the late William Clayton Bowling, Sr.
She graduated from La Plata High School in 1949. Theresa met and married her late husband, Robert J. Bowen, Sr. on Capitol Hill while working in Washington, DC as a Congressional Executive Secretary. She attended George Washington University and modeled for the Greta Stevens Modeling Agency. Together Bob and Theresa had five children. Theresa’s work career spanned seven decades. She was a Secretary for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and then, after a five-year break as a mother and homemaker, she re-entered the workforce and had 28 years of dedicated service to the Prince George’s County Public School System as a School Nurse for Crossland Senior High School, as the Secretary to the Evening High School Principal, and as an advisor/assessor for the External Degree Program assisting those seeking their GED. She retired in 2001 at the age of 71.
Theresa was a member of the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bryantown, Maryland and the Sassy Red Hatters, as well as an avid reader.
In addition to her parents and husband, Theresa is preceded in death by her brothers, Joseph Elvin Bowling, William Clayton Bowling Jr. and her sister, Elizabeth Lee Potter.
She is survived by her daughters, Judith Anstine and her husband Nick, Theresa Afzall and her husband Zel, Catherine Treon and her husband Steve; her sons, Robert J. Bowen Jr. and his wife Maggie and David M. Bowen; her sister, Catherine “Snookie” Poole; 13 grandchildren, Steve, Kristy, Scott, Katie, Jennifer, Amy, Ashley, Joseph, Casey, David, Tony, Brittany, and Nick; and three great grandchildren, Bryce, Ellie, and Jaxon. She is also survived by 12 nieces and nephews.
Friends received on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 from 5-8PM with Wake Service at 7PM at Raymond Funeral Service Chapel, 5635 Washington Avenue, La Plata, Maryland 20646. Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at 11AM at St. Mary’s Bryantown Catholic Church, 13715 Notre Dame Place, Bryantown, Maryland 20617. Interment to follow in the church cemetery.
Memorials in Theresa’s name are asked to St. Mary’s Bryantown Catholic Church, 13715 Notre Dame Place, Bryantown, Maryland 20617.
