Gerald (Gerry) Bowen President: Bridgetown Legion Superintendent: Port Royal National Historic Site Former Bridgetown resident Gerry Bowen died May 19, 2020 in Ottawa. He was 94. Gerry and Alyson Bowen lived in Bridgetown from 1973-1980, during which time he was the Superintendent of Port Royal National Historic Park (The Habitation). Their home, 49 Granville Street West, was the first home which they had ever owned, after 25 years of marriage, Gerry was career military, and the family had moved every two or three years, until Gerry retired and began his second career with Parks Canada. Gerrys maintained contact with Bridgetown friends long after he and Alyson had been transferred West: Murry and Margie Freeman, Don and Dorothy McIntosh, Lib and Ted Woolaver, Grant Walls, and others. He forged the date on his baptismal certificate in order to appear old enough to sign up when World War II began, and spent the war as a telegraph operator on North Atlantic convoy duty. The telegraph post was deep in the ship, next to the propellers. If we were torpedoed, at least I wouldnt know wed even been hit, he wrote. His military career continued for 33 years. He earned his Paratrooper patch, and spent 3 years in Korea with the Royal 22e Regiment (the VanDoos) where he famously shot a rat that was trying to steal his chocolate ration! He was also the last soldier ever wounded with a sabre when during a 1967 military tattoo, a sailors sabre hit the cement floor and shattered, the broken bit flying up to cut Gerrys head. The injury didnt get him a medal, but he did get a message from Buckingham Palace! While in Bridgetown, Gerry was active in the Legion, serving twice as branch president, in the militia (driving weekly to Middletown to play army as Alyson put it), and as a local Scout leader. As Legion president, he made a speech to the BRHS students in 1977, on Queen Elizabeths Silver Jubilee, before each student received a commemorative medal. His affection for our Queen was life-long, and in the last few years he used to point with a shudder at the president south-of-the-border and say See what happens when a politician is your Head of State? No class. He loved the daily commute from Bridgetown to Port Royal in his bright blue Mazda 808 a long commute in the 1970s. At the Habitation he initiated a process to change it from museum to living history, and was especially interested in designing school programs. In 1978, National Geographic mentioned Gerry and the Habitation in an article on Nova Scotia then sent him 12 commemorative copies. He couldnt think of anyone whod want a copy. Gerry and Alyson had three sons: Don, retired from RCMP and Calgary Police; Greg; retired from RCMP in Ottawa; and Christopher, who went to BRHS, and is now himself a high school French teacher. With Christopher, Gerry loved to go beachcombing at Hampton, or walking the family dog along the rail tracks behind Seagrams, or going downtown to get butter tarts from Bridgetown Bakery! Gerry and Alyson met on a blind date to go skating in January 1947. Six weeks later they were engaged, and four months later they married. They were married 48 years, during which time the family lived at twenty-six different addresses. Alyson died of cervical cancer (the leading cause of cancer death amongst Canadian women) in 1995. Gerry and Alyson are buried together in the cemetery in her home town, Coles Island, NB. Gerry married again in 1998, to Helen Rapp, an out-going veteran he met through the Legion. They volunteered at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, where he was an in-demand guide. Even fidgety school kids would sit still when Gerry recounted some of his war-time experiences especially the rat story! He also became something of a gad-fly advocating for veterans causes. Regardless of which party formed the Government, the Minister of Veterans Affairs got to know Gerry pretty quickly! Gerry spent the last decade in a veterans nursing home in Ottawa where he was much-loved by the staff for his sense-of-humour, and for his outlook. As he repeatedly told his sons: complaining about things serves no purpose; either do something about it, or go do something else. When he died, and his casket was being wheeled from the home, over 100 staff came to line the halls and clap him on his way. Due to pandemic restrictions, no funeral was held. Friends may contact the family through www.hpmcgarry.ca