Frederick Bowen

My great Uncle Freddie Bowen, was born 3 October 1891. He was a small man with dark curly hair. He had a small boat that he fished in. He married Ann McCrae who was born in Sunrise, Alaska. When Mount Katmai blew, most of the people of Wood Island and Kodiak left for Seldovia and other places. My Great Grandmother Bowen and her husband Bill Rohde took care of Ann. Ann was born with a crippled back. She had tuberculosis and died 29 April 1933 in Seward, Alaska.

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Children of Frederick and Ann:

  • Rufas Phillip, born 16 September 1920, Seldovia; died 12 October 1993.
  • Isam C., born 1922, Seldovia.
  • Robert L. (Bulla), born 1925, Seldovia; died 31 August 1961, Seldovia.
  • Norman Henry (Barney), Seldovia, born 3 July 1926.
  • Barbara Marie, born 8 April 1929, Seldovia; died 11 December 2018, Vancouver, Washington.
  • Clarence, born 13 April 1931, Seldovia; died 2001.
  • Frederick F. (Freddie), born 28 January 1933, Seldovia; died 7 April 2014, Apopka, Florida.
  • Infant who died in 1937.

Norman, Clarence, Marie, and Frederick were sent to the Jesse Lee Orphanage Home in Seward on 15 April 1933 after their mother died. When the war broke out they were sent to Palmer.

Barbara Marie Bowen married Harry James Snider (1928-2007). Barbara and Harry’s children:

  • Glenda Rae, born 18 July 1950.
  • Terry J., born 26 March 1953, Olympia, Washington.

Glenda married Alan Curtis Neeley (1950-2020) on 14 August 1969 and divorced him 10 August 1981. Glenda and Alan’s children:

  • Todd, born 6 July 1970.
  • Keith, born 1 October 1971.

Glenda then married Earl Robert Butts on 30 August 1989.

Terry Snider married Mary Lee Wetsch, August 1973. Terry and Mary’s children:

  • Toby J., born 13 February 1974.
  • Vicki M., born 5 December 1975.

Vicki married Tuy Dinh Vu on 2 April 1994. Vicki and Tuy’s children:

  • Whitney, born 19 December 1994.
  • Carter, born 18 November 1998.

Freddie Bowen married Johanna Ann Vellinga 17 September 1960; their children: Daniel, Kenny, and Marlaina.


Man with sleeves pushed up, arms folded at his waist, before a house
Fred Bowen, brother of Rufas Bowen.
Two men in long-sleeved shirts standing at the end of a dock with a small boat behind them.
Fred Bowen, brother of Rufas, & Tom Fox (dad).

Pearl Island Fox Farm Prospering

A girl, a man wearing a driving cap, and a woman sitting on the steps of a house.
Anna McCrae Bowen, Fred Bowen, and Sue Haskin.

—Seldovia, about 1931

Fred Bowen, who has been employed for some months on Clyde Coombs’ Pearl Island fox farm, came to town last Wednesday and visited with his family for a couple of days. When he went back to the island Friday morning, he took along two of his young sons, Isam and Robert, their chief jobs to be to keep the “old-man” from getting lonesome.
The blues run wild, Mr. Bowen explained, but there are enough signs to assure that the season will be a profitable one.
Five-year-old Barney Bowen strode into Morris’ store a few days ago and bought two coveted suckers, paying therefore the sum of five cents. Just outside the door he met his young pals, Ernie and Hubert Vinberg, who eyed the sweets longingly. So Barney gave each of his friends a sucker, and not having another nickel to purchase more suckers, strolled off down the walk to engage in a competitive game of hop-scotch.