Darlene Bowers

April 26, 1936 — September 2, 2020

Services for Darlene Bowers, 84, of Fairfield, formerly of Chariton will be Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. at the Pierschbacher Funeral Home. Family will receive friends prior to the service beginning at 10:00 a.m. Interment will follow at the Chariton Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorials are requested to the Freedom Bible Camp in Chariton or Our Daily Bread Ministries. Darlene's family respectfully requests that anyone attending the visitation or service wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines. The service will be available for viewing at the following: . Darlene (LaRue) Bowers was born April 26, 1936 on a farm east of Chariton to Lloyd and Ruth (Werts) LaRue. She attended a one room country school, and accepted Christ as her personal Savior at a young age. As a teenager, she dedicated her life to serving the Lord while at Freedom Bible Camp. Darlene participated in 4-H for many years, becoming county 4-H president. She graduated from Chariton High School in 1954 as valedictorian. Darlene met her future husband, Robert Bowers, at Freedom Bible Camp as a young teenager, and they corresponded by mail and saw each other at summer camp for years before dating and then marrying on June 24, 1955. Darlene earned her Evangelical Teacher's Training Association certificate at Midwest Bible and Missionary Institute (later became Calvary Bible College) in St. Louis. Sons Daniel and Douglas were born in 1956 and 1958, while Robert finished his seminary education. She worked various part-time jobs throughout the years as a secretary, librarian, drug store clerk, and cook/waitress. Her most important and cherished roles, however, were those of wife and mother, and serving the Lord alongside her husband in missionary work and at churches he pastored in small communities around the country. Robert and Darlene lived in Missouri, Kentucky, Minnesota (where daughter Cheryl was born in 1964), Illinois (where youngest son Steven was born in 1967), Iowa, Arizona, and Nebraska. Darlene enjoyed being a pastor's wife. In recent years she fought arthritis, scoliosis, additional severe degenerative back problems, Parkinson's disease and breast cancer. Her strength and faith, especially through these challenges, have inspired and encouraged countless people. Darlene is preceded in death by her parents, Lloyd and Ruth LaRue, and a younger brother, Carroll Vern, who died at birth. She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Eileen and Louis Day; uncle George Werts; husband Robert Bowers of Fairfield, IA; sons and daughters-in-law Daniel and Deanne Bowers of Fairfield, IA, Douglas and Phyllis Bowers of Arlington, TN, and Steven and Stacie Bowers of Elbing, KS; daughter and son-in-law Cheryl and Kevin Lewis of Nashville, TN; thirteen grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren, and many more relatives and friends. Cemetery Details Chariton Cemetery HWY 14 and HWY 34
Chariton, IA 50049

Visitation

SEP 8. 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM (CST)

Pierschbacher Funeral Homes - Chariton

914 Roland Ave

Chariton, IA 50049

[email protected]

https://www.pierschbacherfuneralhome.com

Service

SEP 8. 11:30 AM (CST)