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Note: Eleanor Frances Gross Bowman's Recollections
As a child, Eleanor slept at her grandmother Gross's house because there was no room at her own home. These grandparents provided clothes and food for Alfred and Margaret's family.
6/17/98
When her Mother died, she was sitting on the porch with Franklin. He said that they were the oldest two kids...which one would "go" first...Eleanor said "You go ahead, I'm not going anywhere". She felt badly when he died about one year later.
Frank Gross sang songs in German and his wife tried to stop him from singing in front of the grandkids...Eleanor thought the songs may have been bar room songs...and the kids didn't understand German anyway.
10/02/98
Eleanor's brother, Franklin, took her (pregnant with Jim) and Art Bowman to take their drivers tests. Eleanor passed and Art failed.
Eleanor and White had a Dodge car that wouldn't start in cold weather so John Bowman Sr. would hook horses up to the car and drat it up and down the road until it started.
Eleanor recalls the WPA toilets, which were outhouses bouth with vaults under them. People were not permitted to have home made outhouses anymore. She thinks in was Roosevelt who made this a law.
12/25/98
Mom recalls the time Dad dropped the three of us off to visit Aunt Min and Uncle Ben and didn't return until the next day. Min served spaghetti with ketchup for sauce for dinner. Mom was most embarrased about being left there and imposing on them.
She told how she met Dad...some mutual friends arranged for them to meet at a square dance. She went with the friends and he met them at the dance. The friends would never admit they arranged the meeting but she always felt it was a setup.
Biography
Eleanor Frances Bowman
1922 - 2002
Eleanor Frances, the first child of Carrie Margaret Kuhn Gross and Alfred William Gross, was born on May 9, 1922 in Slickville, Pennsylvania. She loved learning and excelled at school, graduating as Valedictorian of her high school class at Bell Township High School in 1941, where she also served as Editor of the school newspaper.
A gifted hand crafter, Eleanor created delicate knit, crochet, and tatted items for family and friends. Also a talented seamstress, she produced both fashionable clothes and colorful original quilts.
Eleanor married H. L. (White) Bowman on October 22, 1941 and was blessed with the birth of James L., on May 31, 1943, and Judith A., on February 11, 1952. A fatal medical condition caused two younger sons to perish at birth.
Eleanor and White moved their growing family to Bradford, Pa in the early 1950's. Over the next two decades, Eleanor was active in the Lafayette Evangelical Christian Church, M. J. Ryan PTA, Business and Professional Women, and founded the first Girl Scout troop in Lafayette. She also attended the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
Eleanor's steady hand served her well at Zippo, where she delicately hand painted designs on lighters. She later began her career as a case worker for the State of Pennsylvania, from which she retired.
Family was important to Eleanor, and she was delighted to welcome the arrivals of her grandchildren, Jeffrey and Heather Bowman. In grandmotherly fashion, she described their many successes to her friends.
Returning to her roots in southwestern Pennsylvania, Eleanor's love of camping led her to travel extensively as a member of the Good Sam Lucky 13 Chapter and the NCHA Lively Loafers camping clubs. She continued her community service activities at the First Presbyterian Church of Youngwood, Grange, the American Red Cross, and Meals on Wheels. From 1986-2002 she participated in the University of Pittsburgh Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.
Migration to Texas in the 1990's afforded Eleanor new travel and friendship opportunities with the Wewannago Camping Club. She fulfilled a lifelong desire to visit Alaska by joining Judy's family for a cruise and rail trip and overcame her lifelong fear of water as a student in many Aqua Aerobics classes. She was acting grandma to Judy's stepchildren, Stephanie and David Kreitmeyer, and traveled to California to celebrate the wedding of her niece Dorothy Plahs and welcome Kenny Wells into her extended family. Her commitment to community continued as an active volunteer at Lake Point, Lewisville, and Trinity Hospitals and the Carrollton Senior Center. Eleanor was also a member of the Carrollton Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association and the First Presbyterian Church of Rockwall.
Always ready to try new things, Eleanor embraced the digital age by becoming an avid PC user. While surfing the Internet to stay informed and using email to stay in touch she maintained relationships on a daily basis with the younger generations of the family, as well as those she had known many years. Her many email friends will miss her daily musings and jokes.
Eleanor died, on May 30 in Dallas, after a lengthy illness. She is remembered lovingly by her children; Judith A. Kreitmeyer and husband John of Carrollton, TX, James L. Bowman and wife Joan of New Stanton, PA. Grandchildren: Jeffrey L. Bowman and companion Lisa Winter of State College, PA, Heather J. Cutway and husband Justin of New Brunswick, NJ, Stephanie D. Kreitmeyer of San Antonio, TX, and David J. Kreitmeyer and companion Angelique Homan of Garland, TX. Brothers; John L. "Jack" Gross and wife Barbara of Berlin, PA and W. George Gross and wife Patricia of Armbrust, PA, and sisters; M. Eva (Marci) Ferguson and husband Jerry Rainbolt of Katy, TX, Margaret J. Joris of Florida. Preceding Eleanor in death were brothers; Franklin J. and Alfred L. Gross.
Per Eleanor's wishes, she will be cremated in Texas and buried with her family at Poke Run Cemetery in Apollo, PA. Eleanor's children will memorialize her privately. Charitable contributions may be made in Eleanor's name to the charity of the donor's choice.
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