Evelyn Robbie Bowles

Evelyn “Robbie” Bowes, 97, passed away peacefully at Villa Loretto in Mt. Calvary on December 28. She had resided at Villa Rosa the past few years, until having a heart attack in October.  She was born as Evelyn Robbins on May 30, 1917.  Her father was a country vet in Wisconsin and she grew up as part of a large family. She completed high school and business college, and worked as a secretary for a finance company, traveling to a number of towns in Wisconsin.   During World War II, she joined the Navy as a WAVE.   Because she scored the highest marks of her initial training class, she was assigned as secretary to the naval office in Washington, D.C. responsible for all films made with Navy support. As part of that office, she met many of the well-known film stars of that period.

After the war, she married Bill Wolf and moved to Elkhorn, Wisconsin. They raised one son, Robert Wolf, and owned and worked together in their jewelry store.  After a few years, Robbie branched out to open a successful gift shop in Elkhorn named, “The Pink Poodle.” During this time, she also taught gift wrapping classes for various groups.

Following a divorce, Robbie moved to Florida in the late 1960’s working as a hostess in an ocean-front restaurant. She later took a job in the pro shop of the Delray Beach Country Club, and there met Fred Bowes. They married in 1971 and she acquired a new college-age daughter, Marcia Bowes (now Schram).  Robbie and Fred lived in Delray Beach for the next 25 years until he passed away in 1998.  They both enjoyed golfing and she also loved fishing. She was a wonderful grandmother to her five grandchildren, always coming up with new activities. She was very creative and had many talents -sewing and decorating her own clothes, making jewelry, painting, buying and selling collectibles; She was always busy.

Robbie met Ken Sippel of Mt. Calvary in 2002 while visiting her sister, Sally Block, a longtime resident of Fond du Lac.  They fell in love and lived happily in Mt. Calvary until his death 2 years ago.  At the age of 94, Robbie, accompanied by her niece, was able to go on a Freedom Flight to Washington, D.C. honoring military veterans and she enjoyed that experience very much. 

Robbie remained very active despite vision loss and found ways to remain useful in the past few years at Villa Rosa, making roses from ribbon and shredding socks to be stuffing for toys. She loved to chat with everyone.  The Lemke and the Thome families very kindly allowed her to become part of their extended family, and brought much joy and comfort to the end of her life.

She is survived by her two children, Bob and Marcia, five grandchildren, Travis, Hannah, Mike, Eric, and Amanda, as well as a number of nieces and nephews.  A visitation will be held in the Villa Loretto chapel, N8114 County Road WW in Mt. Calvary, on Tuesday, December 30, 2014, at 4:45 p.m.  A memorial service will follow in the chapel at 5:45 p.m.

Zacherl Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.