Obituary for Donald James Bowcutt
Don passed away comfortably at home after having been surrounded by family for one last Superbowl weekend. He would have enjoyed the close game with his beloved San Francisco 49ers minus their overtime loss.
He was predeceased by his parents, Mariner Jesse Bowcutt and Louisa Belle (Reynolds), his first wife, Frederica Judy (Irvin), his second wife, Linda Donna (Callan), and his daughter, Gina. He is survived by daughters, Frederica, Tamara, and Anne as well as son, DJ. He was the proud grandfather of Jacob, Zachary, Emma, Dustin, Elizabeth, Aidan, Greyson, and Dylan. He was the beloved brother of Kenneth Bowcutt and brother-in-law of Betty and Wayne Wenger and leaves behind many loving nieces and nephews as well as fellow Rotarians and close friends.
Born in Bremerton, Washington, Don played tennis and basketball in school and received a scholarship to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He also proudly served in the National Guard and taught riflery. He even taught dancing at Arthur Murray and loved to dance. Homesick for the West Coast, he returned to study at San Jose State where he met and married his first wife, Judy. They had three children, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 duck. He worked three jobs to support his young family before becoming a successful salesperson for Coast Envelope in San Francisco. The family moved from their first home in Dublin to the Oakland Hills having bought a 1927 fixer upper. Don honed his carpentry skills performing many repairs, extensive upgrades, and renovations personally based on his wife’s design input thereby transforming the house into a beautiful piece of art, full of light, stained glass, and surrounded by gnarled old coast live oaks.
The couple divorced in 1972 and Don moved to San Francisco. As a newly single father of three young girls, he took his daughters on memorable annual backpacking trips to share his love of nature with his children and his newfound cooking schools. He claimed to have invented gorp, now known as trail mix for these trips.
His days as an eligible bachelor in San Francisco were cut short in 1974 after meeting and marrying Linda and becoming father to her young child from a previous marriage, Gina. Outnumbered 6 to 1 by the females, he and Linda welcomed his only son, DJ in 1976. He continued his mastery of dad jokes, teaching his children to ski, cultivating orchids, being grill master, and stirring the polenta for his beloved and loving wife, Linda, of 33 years.
Don was entrepreneurial from a young age – beginning with a paper route at age 9, collecting the recyclables from Saturday dances and delivering newspapers and sundries to the sailors at the Bremerton Shipyard. When working for others, he always excelled and rose quickly through the ranks. He was the Assistant Manager for the local grocery store by age 19. He started EPS, Envelope Printing, and Services, in South San Francisco as a family business in 1985. He became the number one customer of the US Postal Service in busy So. San Francisco. He sold the business in his later years but continued as a printer up until his death, serving local businesses, churches, and many philanthropic organizations.
In 1990, he became a Rotarian serving as past President of SSF Rotary in 1991-1993, 1997-1999, 2003-2004, and 2015-2016 for a total of 6 terms. He was President-Elect and looked forward to traveling to Singapore for Rotary International when he was diagnosed with cancer. He never missed a single meeting until just weeks before entering hospice. He wrote, printed, and delivered his nearly 400th edition of the Wheel Right for the last meeting he attended. Don was the treasurer of the Old Time Athlete’s Association for the last seven years and was said to have done “everything” for the club. He was very involved with the Tyee Club and had supported numerous charitable organizations over his lifetime. He was a man about town and had been a member of the Press Club of SF for many years.
He proudly provided the text, layout, editing, and printing for “The Church of St. Vincent de Paul, San Francisco, California – One Hundred Years” by The Reverend John Kevin Ring, who acknowledge Don as the “Parish Printer.”
Don was known for his kindness above all else and for his sense of humor, quick wit, his love of nature and animals, and that he made the best grilled cheese sandwiches. Don will be dearly missed and remembered. His memorial services are to be held at Garden Chapel in So. San Francisco on Friday, March 1 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made to the Donald James Bowcutt Recipe Library for the Culinary Arts Academy – checks may be made payable to CCC Culinary Arts, 2600 Mission Bell Drive, San Pablo, CA 94806.
Live Zoom of Memorial Service will begin stream at 10:45 a.m. on Friday, March 1, 2024
Meeting ID: 831 6857 8659
Passcode: 708353
He was predeceased by his parents, Mariner Jesse Bowcutt and Louisa Belle (Reynolds), his first wife, Frederica Judy (Irvin), his second wife, Linda Donna (Callan), and his daughter, Gina. He is survived by daughters, Frederica, Tamara, and Anne as well as son, DJ. He was the proud grandfather of Jacob, Zachary, Emma, Dustin, Elizabeth, Aidan, Greyson, and Dylan. He was the beloved brother of Kenneth Bowcutt and brother-in-law of Betty and Wayne Wenger and leaves behind many loving nieces and nephews as well as fellow Rotarians and close friends.
Born in Bremerton, Washington, Don played tennis and basketball in school and received a scholarship to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He also proudly served in the National Guard and taught riflery. He even taught dancing at Arthur Murray and loved to dance. Homesick for the West Coast, he returned to study at San Jose State where he met and married his first wife, Judy. They had three children, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 duck. He worked three jobs to support his young family before becoming a successful salesperson for Coast Envelope in San Francisco. The family moved from their first home in Dublin to the Oakland Hills having bought a 1927 fixer upper. Don honed his carpentry skills performing many repairs, extensive upgrades, and renovations personally based on his wife’s design input thereby transforming the house into a beautiful piece of art, full of light, stained glass, and surrounded by gnarled old coast live oaks.
The couple divorced in 1972 and Don moved to San Francisco. As a newly single father of three young girls, he took his daughters on memorable annual backpacking trips to share his love of nature with his children and his newfound cooking schools. He claimed to have invented gorp, now known as trail mix for these trips.
His days as an eligible bachelor in San Francisco were cut short in 1974 after meeting and marrying Linda and becoming father to her young child from a previous marriage, Gina. Outnumbered 6 to 1 by the females, he and Linda welcomed his only son, DJ in 1976. He continued his mastery of dad jokes, teaching his children to ski, cultivating orchids, being grill master, and stirring the polenta for his beloved and loving wife, Linda, of 33 years.
Don was entrepreneurial from a young age – beginning with a paper route at age 9, collecting the recyclables from Saturday dances and delivering newspapers and sundries to the sailors at the Bremerton Shipyard. When working for others, he always excelled and rose quickly through the ranks. He was the Assistant Manager for the local grocery store by age 19. He started EPS, Envelope Printing, and Services, in South San Francisco as a family business in 1985. He became the number one customer of the US Postal Service in busy So. San Francisco. He sold the business in his later years but continued as a printer up until his death, serving local businesses, churches, and many philanthropic organizations.
In 1990, he became a Rotarian serving as past President of SSF Rotary in 1991-1993, 1997-1999, 2003-2004, and 2015-2016 for a total of 6 terms. He was President-Elect and looked forward to traveling to Singapore for Rotary International when he was diagnosed with cancer. He never missed a single meeting until just weeks before entering hospice. He wrote, printed, and delivered his nearly 400th edition of the Wheel Right for the last meeting he attended. Don was the treasurer of the Old Time Athlete’s Association for the last seven years and was said to have done “everything” for the club. He was very involved with the Tyee Club and had supported numerous charitable organizations over his lifetime. He was a man about town and had been a member of the Press Club of SF for many years.
He proudly provided the text, layout, editing, and printing for “The Church of St. Vincent de Paul, San Francisco, California – One Hundred Years” by The Reverend John Kevin Ring, who acknowledge Don as the “Parish Printer.”
Don was known for his kindness above all else and for his sense of humor, quick wit, his love of nature and animals, and that he made the best grilled cheese sandwiches. Don will be dearly missed and remembered. His memorial services are to be held at Garden Chapel in So. San Francisco on Friday, March 1 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made to the Donald James Bowcutt Recipe Library for the Culinary Arts Academy – checks may be made payable to CCC Culinary Arts, 2600 Mission Bell Drive, San Pablo, CA 94806.
Live Zoom of Memorial Service will begin stream at 10:45 a.m. on Friday, March 1, 2024
Meeting ID: 831 6857 8659
Passcode: 708353