Harold Lewis Rodney Bowsher

Harold Lewis Rodney Bowsher, age 93, of Springfield, Missouri entered into rest on Thursday, December 22, 2022.

He was born Friday, December 13, 1929 in Barry County, Missouri to parents Andrew James Bowsher and Lena Wilson Bowsher. For grades one through eight, he attended a two-room school. He graduated from Cassville, Missouri high school in 1949.

He was in the United States Air Force from January 1951 to January 1955. During the Korean War, he flew 46 combat missions as a Radar and Radio Operator in the 36^th Air Rescue Squadron unit into North Korea and the coast of China. Among awards, he received the Air Medal twice for recovering airmen who had been shot down and parachuted into the Yellow Sea. In 1954, he was one of thirteen crewmen who survived the crash of Air Force Lockheed RC-121 into the San Francisco Bay at night.

He worked for 29 years as an air traffic controller, retiring in 1984. He was a licensed Ham Operator.

On September 5, 1971, he was united in marriage to Betty Jean Rackley at the First Christian Church in North Kansas City, Missouri. They lived in Gladstone, Missouri. In 1994, they moved to Sun City West, Arizona, where they played golf and travelled for 20 years. In 2014, they moved back to Missouri.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Betty on January 7, 2021, his parents, eight sisters, and five brothers. He is survived by one brother, James Bowsher and a niece, Janice Henson of Barry County, Missouri, and a cousin, Patsy Terry of Springfield, Missouri.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, at 11:30. Procession will leave at 12:30 for Missouri Veterans Cemetery where graveside services with full military honors will be held at 1 p.m.

Arrangements are under the direction of Adams Funeral Home, Nixa.