Geneva May Kientzy Bowles

Geneva May Kientzy Bowles, 101, died Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, at The Maples Health and Rehabilitation in Springfield.

Viewing will be Saturday, Sept. 29, from 9-10 a.m., before the funeral Mass at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, 29 St. Alphonsus Road, Silex.  Burial will be at St. Alphonsus Cemetery following Mass.

Geneva was born in Apex on May 31, 1917, to the late George M. and Clara C. Miller Kientzy. She lived on the family farm in Silex until her marriage to William Bernard Bowles on May 5, 1936, when they moved to St. Louis.

She was a loving and devoted wife and mother to their four children. She enjoyed sewing, quilting, gardening, bowling, and volunteering at her church and children’s schools.  After her husband retired from Moloney Electric Company in 1970 they moved back to Silex, where she belonged to the St. Alphonsus quilting club and the local Scopic Club and volunteered at St. Alphonsus School in Millwood.

Known for her homestyle cooking, Geneva’s kitchen was a gathering place for family and friends.

Geneva was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, William Bowles; her infant daughter, Mary Janet Bowles; her parents, George and Clara Kientzy; her brothers, Brother Pius Kientzy O.S.B., DeSales Kientzy, and Dick Kientzy; and sisters, Angela Kientzy Phelan and Virgina Kientzy Gieselman; and daughter-in-law, Sheila Byrnes Bowles.

Surviving Geneva are her four children, William Ronald Bowles and wife, Karen, Charles Kenneth Bowles, Marilyn Bowles Zorn and husband, David, and Jane Bowles Johnson and husband,Chet; sister, Marie Kientzy Kunza; and sister-in-law, Viola Burkemper Kientzy; 15 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to St. Alphonsus School, 25 St. Alphonsus Road, Silex, MO 63377 or your charity of choice.