By Tonia Black-Gold
Catawba College
When Harold Bowen ’48 of Lexington looks back on his life of 88 years, he has accomplished much and he credits Catawba College for setting him on his successful life’s path.
Now, Bowen is doing something to pay Catawba back. He has established a scholarship at the college in memory of his wife, Jean Reid Bowen, ’49, and twin brother, Carroll W. Bowen, ’46.
Natives of Salisbury, Bowen and his twin, Carroll, came to Catawba on scholarships to play football and baseball in 1941. Although World War II interrupted their college careers, both eventually graduated.
H. “Bub” and C. “Bub,” as the twins were called by their older sister, Clara Lee Lowder ’35, were both members of Coach Gordon Kirkland’s legendary Catawba Indians football team. Carroll was an offensive end and a defensive linebacker, while Harold played offensive tailback and defensive halfback. They had only played on Kirkland’s team for a season when, Harold recalls, “Coach Kirkland found out that if we joined the Marine Corps that they would let you finish college upon returning from active duty, so he took a large number of the football team members to the Marine Corps recruiting station in Raleigh.”
The Bowen twins, now Marine Corps recruits, ended up at Duke University for V-12 units. Carroll received a medical discharge while at Duke in 1942 and returned to Catawba, where he graduated in 1946. He worked as a coach and teacher at High Point Central.
Harold was shipped out from Duke to serve in the South Pacific. He was discharged in December 1945. He returned to Catawba to complete his degree in 1947 and graduated in 1948.
“We were very mature when we came back to Catawba,” Harold explains. “In an earlier newspaper interview, I described us as ‘a rough, tough bunch.’ There were a lot of my athletic friends coming back because they were in service too, so it was easy to make friends.
I played on the Tangerine Bowl teams in ’47 and ’48 and was Little All-American my senior year.”
Harold pursued a degree in physical education. Although Harold’s wife, Jean, was a junior while he was a senior on campus, he did not know her then. He was introduced to Jean in 1949 by the Rev. Dr. Billy Joe Leonard, ’50, of Lexington, who persuaded Jean to apply for a teaching position at Lexington High School.
Jean joined the staff in 1949. She and Harold were married in 1951. After working in education for 31 years, she retired in 1980.
Harold taught and coached football and basketball at Lexington High for several years until he was named assistant principal in 1953. He earned his master’s degree and principal’s certificate from UNC Greensboro and became principal of Pickette Elementary School in 1956.
He was the first male principal in elementary education in Lexington.
He said he “found a home in elementary education” and remained at Pickette until his retirement in 1981.
After graduating from Catawba, Harold and brother Carroll reconnected with Bill Curry, whom they had met at Catawba in 1941. The two worked with Curry as spotters in his Carolinas Sports Network. Harold later spotted for Woody Durham’s Carolina Tarheels coverage. Both Bowens are members of the Catawba Hall of Fame, and Harold is a member of the Davidson County Sports Hall of Fame and the American Legion Department of N.C. Baseball Hall of Fame.
Today, Harold has his own radio show, “Harold’s Folks,” which airs five days a week at 9 a.m. on WLXN 1440 AM in Lexington.
After retiring, he was elected to the Lexington City Board of Education in the 1980s and served two terms as mayor of Lexington (1986-1990).
Thanks to Catawba, Harold says, “I was able to get a degree to do teaching and help kids reach their full potential. Teaching is the greatest profession in the world ó it’s what Christ did, and for giving me that opportunity, I owe Catawba a debt of gratitude.”
Catawba Senior Vice President Tom Childress jokes that Harold is busier in retirement than most people working fulltime. He said the College is indebted to Harold for creating the Bowen Family Endowed Scholarship Fund that will benefit future Catawba students. “Harold knows that our treasure lies in our next generation,” Childress says. “If this scholarship creates an opportunity for a student who had none, it has done what Harold intended it to do.”