Saturday, June 19, 2021
Some Memories of Peter Lyon Bowles
There were 6 of us. Kay, Kenny, Peter, John, Lois and Debby, 20 years between Kay and Debby, with the other 4 of us in the middle.
Peter was a quiet, studious fella with a very quirky sense of humor. At home he was always dabbling with electricity or chemistry experiments. We knew when his chemistry kit was being used because the house usually smelled of sulfur. As far as electricity went, he loved putting something together and asking one of us to hold the end for him. There was usually a shock followed by a bit of yelping and him chuckling at us – we (I did anyway) fell for it every time. Can you say Lucy and Charlie Brown and the football?
Peter’s bedroom was very large, nearly the size of his apartment at 111. The house we grew up in was built before the civil war, with at least 2 chimneys, 15-foot-high ceilings and 12-foot windows (to this day I don’t like washing windows) and 5 large bedrooms upstairs, 2 down. One of the chimneys went up through his bedroom – it was about 3 feet square. Around that chimney he built tables and laid out a train set, with paper mâché mountains and other scenery. I don’t remember too much about it other than it was thrilling to watch him operate it, making the trains go around, up hills, through tunnels and over bridges. One of his engines was a steam engine that he could make puff steam. The train cars were large, nothing like the little trains you see in displays today.
I remember one night when Peter urged us all out on the side porch to see something remarkable. The northern lights were showing all the way down to southern New York State and he knew about it. I did not realize until I was an adult just how remarkable that was.
When I was in 11th grade (1964) Peter brought home a TV kit. I remember him spreading all the parts on a sheet in our living room, including that giant TV screen tube, and commenced the assembly. After several hours, we had a new TV (our first was a second-hand TV from another family member)! Mom could not decide whether she was happy to have it or not. She disapproved of any of us spending too much time watching TV, but she soon had her own favorite shows.
Once out of college and working, Peter bought himself the sweetest little MGB convertible, powder blue. One year after our PA family reunion, Debby and I went home with our Aunt Maude and Uncle Robert for the week in Millerton, PA. Peter drove to Millerton to pick us up in his little convertible. He put the top down and we had the best ride of our lives, Debby sitting in my lap between my knees! When we were close to Canisteo we were following the railroad tracks and a train was running along with us as we waved to the Engineer. Peter raced to the crossing and we flew across ahead of the train. It was breath-taking for us!
Peter was always a very private individual, and he lived away from home, first in Owego, then in Poughkeepsie. He eventually bought a building in the historical section of Newburgh on Liberty Street and set about rehabbing it. It is my understanding that the city sandblasted the fronts, installed new doors and windows on the fronts of all the buildings on that section of the street. Across the street was a park with a farmhouse where George Washington spent much of the last year of the Revolutionary War. Peter rebuilt the interior of that multi-story building (during the Revolution there was a tavern on the first floor). Redoing the electric, plumbing and other repairs and necessary “rebuilds”. The first floor was rented to a potter who created lovely pottery. The second floor apartment was also rented and the third and fourth floors were his living space.
Peter usually had a rumpled, absent-minded professor look about him, but he was very sharp. He was quiet but very sociable, and could chat about nearly any subject. He had many friends, but rarely spoke of any personal details about or with them. He talked about helping this one or that one with a building or install project of some kind. He even traveled to Haiti to assist friends with renovating a home for a bed and breakfast!
Debby’s favorite memory of Peter is from the Spring of ’68 when she had been asking for a transistor radio for her birthday. When she opened her present from Peter she was shocked to realize that the transistor radio he brought her was a kit to put together! He sat down with her, had her read all the instructions, making sure all the parts were there and left her to put it together after a short soldering lesson. A few hours later when she presented the finished radio to him, he gave her batteries to install and told her to turn it on. She was very surprised to realize it actually worked! And Peter seemed a bit surprised too, but also impressed.
We saw Mom cooking and baking just for Peter every time he came home for a visit, so we figured he was her favorite, which was fine with us. We loved having him around too!
We all have our personal memories of Peter, these are some of Debby’s and mine. He was a beloved brother and I’m sorry for me (and us) that we were not able to gather round him at the end of his life. We believe that was his choice, and based on the friends that Harry and I met while we were in Newburgh, he had a whole other family who respected and loved him very much. Now he has joined other much loved family members: Dad, Mom, Kenny, Aunt Jane (Mom’s sister with whom Peter had a very close relationship), and my ex, Jim. We all will miss him, each in our own way.
God bless you, Peter, and rest in peace, pain free, perhaps driving around in that little blue MGB convertible.
With love,
Lois and Debby