Early Years, Education, Military
Bowen was born in New Orleans to Joseph F. Bowen and the former Hazel McNulty. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. On his discharge in November 1945, he relocated to Lafayette to attend the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana Institute). He obtained a bachelor of arts degree in music in 1948. He later received a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in New York City. He taught in the Lafayette Parish school system for eleven years and was known for his direction of choral organizations throughout his life. His passion for music, for instance, led him in the 1980s to organize a community singing group called the Soundwaves.
From 1955-1961, Bowen was executive vice president of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. In 1961, with a large family to support, he joined Robert Angers, then publisher of the Franklin Banner-Tribune of Franklin in St. Mary Parish in the opening of their own advertising firm, Angers, Bowen and Associates. Angers sold out his interest in the company to Bowen in 1962.
Bowen was once awarded the French Legion of Merit for his work in promoting the use of French in Louisiana.
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