Wine Nation hearth claims lifetime of couple who beloved to assist others

Roy Howard Bowman, 87, and Irma Elsie Bowman, 88, were the people who settled in their community and did good without making a fuss.

“Anyone who needed a second chance, the Bowmans were their attorney,” said Felice Lechuga-Armadillo, who first met the couple as a child at the Assembly of God Church in Ukiah. “Anyone who needed help stepped forward – but quietly.”

The Bowmans were among the victims of the fires that devastated Mendocino County’s remote Redwood Valley early Monday. They were found in the burned remains of their home on Fisher Lake Drive, where they had lived since time immemorial.

Mr. Bowman served in the US Navy and was a soil analyst for the federal government before retiring. Mrs. Bowman loved to bake and was interested in everyone around her.

“Irma taught my sisters and me how to cook, how to go shopping, how to be smart with our money,” recalls Lechuga-Armadillo, who lives in Ukiah and the couple with her siblings once or twice a month for Sunday dinner. “She would also tell us to talk well about other people.”

Sylvia McGuire Nickelson met the Bowmans when she and her husband began serving in the Church in Spanish. Calmly but consistently, the elderly couple provided money for years to help build the ministry.

It went even further: money always went with the birthday and anniversary cards the Bowmans sent to Nickelson. When Nickelson’s husband was sick and Nickelson’s daughter needed tuition for school, the Bowmans wrote check after check.

“They were both beautiful, inside and out,” said Nickelson on Friday. “I just loved her.”

Earlier this year, Mr. Bowman had a stroke. The last time Mrs. Bowman spoke to Lechuga-Armadillo’s mother, she said sadly that if Roy had another stroke she would want one too – “because she didn’t want to be on this earth without him,” Lechuga Armadillo said .

Roy and Irma Bowman are survived by their sons Mark of Waco, Texas and Gary of Medford, Oregon, and several grandchildren.

John King is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron