Billie Ruth Bowen of Front Royal, Virginia died September 9, 2026 at the age of 100.
Her Service of Christian Burial will be held at Front Royal United Methodist Church on Saturday, September 26 at 11:00 a.m., followed by interment in Prospect Hill Cemetery. The service will be led by The Reverend Larry Craddock and The Reverend Gary Heaton.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Maddox Funeral Home, where the family will receive visitors on Friday, September 25, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Pallbearers will be Jim Kenney, Brenden McHugh, Rick Mitchell, Doug Partlow, Hunter Partlow, and Jeremiah Tucker.
Mrs. Bowen was pre-deceased by her husband, Edwin Winfield “Ned” Bowen; and sisters, Frances Cloyd and Doris Stamer.
Survivors include Nena Margaret McMahill of Rossmoor, Maryland, Elizabeth Winfield “Winnie” Cannon of Bon Aqua, Tennessee, and Thomas Reuben Bowen of Front Royal. She also leaves two grandchildren, Robert Winfield Bowen of Arlington, Virginia, his wife, Dayna, and daughter, Ella; and Catherine Brough “Katie” Rottinghaus of Dover, Massachusetts, her husband, Scott, and children, Elizabeth, Edwin, Emmett, Mary Emmaline, and Evangeline.
Mrs. Bowen was born November 11, 1925 on the family farm in Wolf River, Tennessee, the daughter of Foster Blaine and Nena Mary (Frogge) Wright. She graduated from Maryville College before teaching English at nearby Alcoa High School.
She met Ned Bowen while spending one summer with her sister, Frances, in Front Royal and working as the first female tour guide at Skyline Caverns. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen were married on July 26, 1947 in Front Royal Methodist Church. Loving partners through life, they raised a family in Front Royal where Mr. Bowen was a merchant banker.
In 1969, they moved to Windmore Farm in Rockland where they raised Angus cattle and thoroughbred horses, racing the horses in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Later in life, they moved back into Front Royal.
Mrs. Bowen was a founding member of the Valley Garden Club, serving as officer at the local, district, and state levels of the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs. She was a charter member of the Front Royal Oratorio Society and served on the Warren County School Board Selection Committee before Board members were elected.
Throughout her adult life, Mrs. Bowen was an active member of Front Royal Methodist Church – singing in the Sanctuary Choir for 75 years, directing children’s choirs and Bible School, raising funds to preserve the stained-glass windows and to refurbish the organ, serving on many committees, and providing flower arrangements for the sanctuary.
Her special service over the last 20 years of her life was chairing the Congregational Care committee, which included taking arrangements to residents of Warren County care homes. Continuing her floral ministry, the congregation will be encouraged to leave the funeral with flowers to share with others in the community.