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The Speech
My uncle, gave a wonderful speech on the day of my grandparents' anniversary celebration. My mom passed along a copy of it, and I will pass it along to you.
All of these people you see here this afternoon are the children of Doctor Grafton and Estyl Bowers, along with their spouses and the Bowers grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And we are here to celebrate Doc's 97th birthday, which was yesterday, and Doc and Estyl's 75th wedding anniversary. The family has come from St. Louis, Lathrop, Lee's Summit, Columbia and Warrensburg, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Glendale, California; and Topeka, Kansas.
Grafton Bowers and Estyl Cowgill were married on June 2, 1935 at the home of Stella Thompson, clerk of the court, in Kingston, Missouri. They had met, rumor has it, at the swimming pool in Cameron. The way I heard it was, Grafton jumped off of the high diving board and made a huge splash, and when he came up, his face was just inches away from the beautiful face of the girl whom he would marry and spend the remainder of his life with.
Doctor Bowers is a 1938 graduate of Kansas State University School of Veterinary Medicine. Following his graduation, he and Estyl borrowed money from Dr. Frick, his surgery professor, to buy a car, which would take them to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where Doc would be a meat inspector for the United States Army. Later they moved to Chicago with the army, and ultimately settled on a farm south of Cowgill where they raised their four children. Doc practiced veterinary medicine for 35 hears all over Caldwell and Ray county. His 1945 and 1946 Willy's Jeeps became an icon to the community. somehow in the midst of everything that happened on that farm, Estyl managed to receive a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Pedagogy from what is now the University of Central Missouri at Warrensburg, and later, she earned a Master's degree in Music. She taught piano lessons from their home on the farm for over 40 years.
Their four children are Mitchell and wife Agnes, who live in St. Louis; Brenda and husband Pete, who live on a farm east of Lathrop; Ellen who makes her home in Glendale, California; and Charlotte and husband Jim who make their home in Topeka, Kansas.
Music has been a huge part of the Bower's family from the earliest years of their life together. Grafton has played the bass violin, the banjo, mandolin and sings tenor. Estyl plays the violin but is basically a keyboard person, playing the organ, piano, and accordion. Together Grafton and Estyl have been known as "We Two", and they have played impromptu at innumerable community events around the two county area.
As a tribute to our favorite "We Two", the family is going to sing a few songs that we are pretty sure most of you know, and we hope you will sing along.
Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue
Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
The World is Waiting for The Sunrise
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