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David W. Bowker Ft Kent, ME QCWA # 16928 Chapter 134 |
December 18, 1940 - December 08, 2018
David Warren Bowker, age 77, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, December 8, 2018, in Fort Kent, Maine. A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, he was born December 18, 1940, to Donald T and Clara C Bowker.
He graduated from Appleton High School West in 1959 and attended Valparaiso University. David was a passionate, expertly-skilled and gifted Ham Radio operator of 68 years (call sign K1FK), avid outdoorsman, and whiz electronics engineer. He earned numerous highly competitive Ham Radio contest awards operating his specially designed, hand-built equipment contacting thousands of other operators in remote parts of the world and authored numerous highly technical articles. He always looked forward to fly fishing with his son in Idaho every summer and sharing stories of his time designing and working around the same jet aircraft his son flew. He participated in adventurous big game hunts with friends in the mountains of Iran where he and his wife, Burnette lived and worked in the late 1960s.
He loved fishing the mountain lakes of California while living and working at Edwards AFB and crafted very unique and effective fly patterns for fly fishing just to get that one fish that got away...and it always worked. He created hundreds of unique, delicious recipes on the grill and shared them with family and friends with laughter-rousing notes and instructions on how to prepare and cook the while enjoying a "beverage of choice" during the process.
He loved sharing his technical knowledge creating Science, Technology, Education, and Math (STEM) projects for Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and his daughter's STEM school in Arizona. He enjoyed reminiscing with his sister about their childhood memories and friends of the family. He was the go-to person to develop and design unique mechanical home fixes and projects for friends and family, again with a unique laughter inducing attention to detail and directions for use. He enjoyed visiting with local shop owners in Fort Kent to spend time with them during the day and loved watching his grandchildren play with their pets and reading to him.
David took on numerous diverse assignments around the country and overseas supporting military aircraft simulators and testing of aircraft avionics and weapons systems. He worked for the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corporation for 31 years retiring as the Senior Principal Engineer designing avionics for military aircraft that to this day and in future generational aircraft designs bare his trademark "get the job done right" and commitment to excellence in defense of our nation. His legacy continues in all he touched with his knowledge, passions, experiences, and humor.
David is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, Burnette, of Fort Kent; sister Marilyn of Appleton, Wisconsin; son Donald and wife Jill; daughter Tracie and husband Adam; grandchildren Sydney and Michael, and many extended family members in the Fort Kent area. The Bowker family would like to extend our gratitude to all the family and friends for their support and loving outreach. In following with David's wishes, no services will be held and in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in David's name to the St. John Valley Technology Center. K1FK, signing off.
Published on December 20, 2018