BCM Community

To friends of Richard Bowyer (DrivingMissLazy), we are very sad to announce his passing yesterday, Sept. 18, 2008. His health had been failing the last couple of months, though he never really let on how bad it was. Within the past month, he has passed out and fallen at least half a dozen times, but was always better after he put his oxygen on. He got out of the shower yesterday and started to feel dizzy, which was a sign he could pass out. He laid himself down on the floor to prevent himself from falling. His wife, Janet thought she heard a noise coming from the bathroom and went to check on him. He said he was OK, he just needed to rest a minute. His daughter, Linda asked if he needed his oxygen and he said he didn't know where it was. He was starting to look dazed and didn't really know where he was. His granddaughter, Hilary called 911. By the time the ambulance got to the house, he wasn't talking and was starting to shake. They performed CPR, but he had no pulse. They got a faint pulse and decided to take him to the hospital. When the doctor came out, they said he was gone. They had worked on him for half an hour and even if he was revived, he would have severe brain damage. The doctor said that most likely the faint pulse the paramedics got at the house was just an arhythmia (?), which is just something the heart does. He died around 2pm. He was 77 years old and is survived by his wife, Janet, daughters Shawna and Linda, son, Royce, grandchildren, Hilary and Travis and great-grandchildren, Zachary, Riley and Mackenzie.

Richard was the creator of the successful Atlas ShorPower product line. He was a family man who made all his employees feel like a part of the family. He was also one of the best electrical and mechanical engineers. He had a passion for creating things. He had restored over eighteen antique and classic cars from a 1911 Model T, eight Model A cars from 1928-31, cars from the 50's and 60's to off-road vehicles. He never stopped working on things, but he never forgot his family. He was also a big flirt and all the girls were his "honey".

I just want to let everyone know how much he enjoyed these boards. He was always telling us stories or jokes he heard from everyone here. If we didn't know where he was, all we had to do was look in the office, and there he was at the computer, typing away. He really did enjoy talking to all of you.

As per his wishes, there will be no service. Anyone wishing to send a card or flowers to Janet or his family may do so at this address:

Bowyer Family
575 Parkersburg Road
Spencer, WV  25276

I want to thank you all for the joy you brought him, even after he lost his own bus. He really loved these boards and talking to everyone. He will be greatly missed.

R.I.P. Richard (Husband, Dad, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa)
Nov. 16, 1931 - Sept. 18, 2008
We Love You

Thanks, Hilary

Oh my!  My condolences to the family and friends.  Richard will be sorely missed by this group and I'm sure many others that he probably belonged to.

Somebody please move this to the main board, not everyone checks the OT.

I'm sorry to hear that, our prayers go out to the family, I looked forward to richards posting, I not only enjoyed his posts but I learned a lot from them, he'll be missed.

This is such sad news!

My heart goes out to the family during these emotional times.

I will miss his informative posts and generous knowledge.

This is NOT OFF TOPIC, needs to be moved and made a sticky!

God Bless his family,

Paul

I'll second moving it to the main board!!  I enjoyed Richard on this board and will miss him. My condolences to his family, I will try to remember them in my prayers. Jim

Hillery,

Our Deepest condolences from all of the Moderator team and members of this board!

Richard will be missed! He has been a voice of friendship, knowlage, and wisdom to all of our community.

Please let us know if you need anything. We would be glad to help.

Nick Badame

Richard's Tag line was,

Rest well, my friend, you deserve it.

Dallas

........................<Silence>.....................   :(

Sorry to hear that Richard and I never agreed on shocks and Arizona Transmission but we stayed in touch by Email and never let that come between us so sad we are getting older and have less friends and family everyday may he rest in peace

What a loss to the busnuts community (and everyone else).  Richard will be missed.  So will his wit, grace, charm and knowledge.

Jimmy

This is a sad day for our bus community.  Richard was also a valued member of the moderator team.  He would always be watching out for the board and its members, and felt strongly about keeping this community as an uplifting, safe place for us.  Also as I think about it, one of his favorite "features" was the spell checker.  Richard had an eye for detail & would notice mis-spellings, grammatical mistakes - and kept after me to get the spell checking going.  Also, (gentle) heckling when some of us would mis-spell something.   He would also happily help with new features, testing, offering suggestions, and doing whatever was necessary.  And he also was  quick to note spammers before most members noticed the problems.  He would also call when there were board problems so we could get things back online as soon as possible.  Richard was a pleasure to work with and I will miss him.

My condolences go out to his family, as do my prayers.  

Kind Regards, Phil Lyons

My heartfelt condolences go out to Richard's family.  We will pray for their comfort and well being in their time of sorrow.

It was clear that Richard loved life and he lived it accomplishing great projects and serving others along the way.  He lived the life he loved and now is in an even better place.  He will probably work on rebuilding the angels chariots now.

Since before 2002, when I first came to know of the bus boards, Richard has been a presence of inspiration and knowledge. Even after he was "busless", he continued participating and encouraging others. I remember him saying, sometime after he no longer owned a bus, that he was pretty content with where he was and what he had done. He said he had seen everything he wanted to see and that he had his place of contentment right where he was at that point in life. One could do lot worse in life.

We'll miss you, Richard, but I don't fear for you. I know you're having a blast right now. Godspeed.

-Chuck

      Paula & I want to add our condolences and prayers to Richard's family and friends.  We consider it an honor to have personally met and become good friends with Richard & Janet.  They attended the very first Bussin' rally (and many of the other ones also).  Richard will be missed, but he will not be forgotten.  Jack & Paula
PS:  I guess I need to give a nice long blast on the train whistle that I got from Richard

Quote from: jjrbus on September 19, 2008, 07:56:31 AM
I'll second moving it to the main board!!  I enjoyed Richard on this board and will miss him. My condolences to his family, I will try to remember them in my prayers. Jim

Done     Jack

His enlightening & entertaining posting will be missed.

My condolences to his family & friends.

We were lucky to have him as an internet friend (& sometimes, antagonist  ;D ) as long as we did. . . .

As everyone above has said he will be missed! My condolences to his family, I'm sure he was a great husband, father, grandfather, friend & provider! Those of us from this board as well as the others he frequented have definetly definitely lost a true BUSNUT!  But he was more than that he was a true friend, source of inspiration & information, as well as a great moderator. And as also pointed out he did have his tendencies to call us out on spelling (or to correct it himself! LOL!), and occassionally occasionally as Kyle said he would antagonize or instagate. But those are the things that made Richard, as well as his passion for buses & busnuts. He was always there to try and help anyone who had a problem he could be of assistance on, and if he didn't know he'd try to find someone who did!  BK

Now I propose that we the members of THIS board dedicate a day, a rally, a part of this board, ar or anything that can and will be a constant memorial to him. So that those of us who knew him, and those who didn't & never will can always have something to remind of us him. ;D  BK  ;D

PS Hey Richard I DID use spell check & hand corrected my errors for YOU! LOL!

It never easy to accept the news about Richard Bowyer passing. Like all the nice thing said about Richard...he is truly a Bus Nut that putting all his effort trying his best in everything he did. It did well. Plus being a good father and laugher.

I never forget meeting him in one of the early Jack's rally in Arcadia, FL. I always wanted to meet all of the But Nuts that I read & shared with on the Mak board. I will never forget him being with few nuts together chatting about buses. It a great memory to come back to. I am glad that I have met Richard.

The bottom-line is Richard was kind and a true gentleman.

Our prayer to his family.

Gerald & Lynette

I just don't have any words to describe my feelings right now....

Thank you Richard and goodbye my friend.


....   :'(  ....

My wife Dorothy and I would like to add our condolences and prayers. I never met Richard but I enjoyed his posts, his humor and his knowledge. He will be missed by many.

Richard,

It is only your passing that has affected me this moment that distrubs me to no end.  We all have to leave and go home but the time I have known you I have enjoyed the respect you offer us all as a moderator and friend. 

Watch over us all my friend like you did on the board.

You are surely missed this very moment by me, see you on the other side one day. 

Gary

To the Bowyer Family,

Our Deepest Condolences to all of you.

What a sad day for our Busnut family too.

I have always enjoyed Richards post's and there was no doubt he was a very intelligent man,

who enjoyed contributing and being a part of this BBS as much as anyone could.

Godspeed Richard, Well see ya when we get there!

Cliff

I have never met richard in person but have gained alot of insight from this man.May you rest in peace may the family of this most admired man be comforted during this time of mourning let us all celibrate his life in our hearts and coversations of him and always may richard be there in our memory

   GOD BLESS YOU ALL

    Cheryl And Van.

To Richard's family, we extend our deepest sympathy.  Although it is never easy losing a loved one, I hope that the love and appreciation for Richard expressed here by so many will help ease your pain.  Richard had a heck of a life and we are glad to have known at least a little bit of him.  Christy Hicks

Richard not only shared his bus nut activities / experiences  he also shared with me on private e'mails all the things he discovered by heating  his shop with used motor oil. etc...  He will truly be missed

Richard was a kind Gentleman and his presence will be missed. My prayers go out to the family.

I have delayed posting because I just don't know how to express the sadness I feel over loosing such a wonderful person as Richard. His loss will be felt for a long time.

It has taken a little while for me to get the point of posting my condolences
Every time I saw a post from "Driving Miss Lazy" the theme song from the
Movie of like naming would play through my head and with that good feeling I
Would read what Richard had to say. I will miss that very much. If the mark of a
Good man is by how many lives are touched in a positive way I feel that Richard
Was great!

So the question then arises "how do we pay our respects to a person who has added
So much?" The thought I had was to create a memorial link for the people who have
Been so much a part of this board as to be considered family. In this link would be
Posted all the posts from that person under their name. (from their profile moved to
The new link)

I can think of no better way to honor someone than to put their posts out there so all
Can easily read (including the lurkers)

Just a thought...........

For all those who personally knew him may your heeling time be quick.

Skip

When I first read the "Driving Miss Lazy" user name I couldn't imagine anyone being that disrespectful to their wife. I soon found out that "Miss Lazy" wasn't what I thought it was and after meeting Richard and Janet at the second Timmonsville Rally I knew that couldn't be true.

Not only did Jackie and I enjoy that meeting but Richard and I enjoyed crossing idealogical swords through the years. It seems that we both had a similar background but I found out, very quickly, that he had a stronger foundation in his knowledge than did I.

And, as always, he was a gentleman in addressing this to me.

He will be sorely missed in our community and our hearts go out to his family.

Richard, may the BusGods smile on you and accept you in their midst as a
fountain of knowledge and love for our hobby.

NCbob

I never met Richard not talked to him directly, but I have observed his postings for a number of years.  Aside from his comprehensive knowledge in many subjects, what I most appreciated was the dignity with which he expressed himself.  He was clearly an exceptional individual.  Best regards to all his family and friends.

Well guys, I have waited a couple of days to respond to this unfortunate time for a busnut. First I thought about not responding at all but the thought of it got to me! Anyway, most everyone here knows that Richard and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things! With that let me say, I had the pleasure of meeting Richard and his wife at Timmonsville. Never really got to talk to him at length. He just sat in his car with his wife. I think they were getting ready to leave but we had a couple of laughs at the time about how he came up with the name "Driving Miss Lazy"! After that, we conversed via this site and the BNO board about different bus postings as we all do. What really got Richard and myself to disliking one another was I viewed my opinion as to his veryquick delete finger. Seems everything I posted was being deleted and that got to be pretty frustrating! Deep down, I knew he was an intelligent man with many years of experience in his field. I took the knowledge that Richard portrayed from his many postings and gained a lot myself. He had many years on me in life and I will never catch up or match the knowledge that he obviously had. Recently losing my own Dad to a long illness was, and still is, very hard for me. I have times when all I want to do is be alone! I'm sure Richards family will be going thru the same times with the same feelings. It's tough, believe me! VERY TOUGH! Just when you think your a strong person, you find out, your just like everyone else! Facing a loss is hard. I knew I would have to deal with it one day and I have so far! I have no one to blame! In fact, I am thankful that I was able to tell my dad special things before he left for home! I am so sorry that Richard's family didn't have that opportunity! I think being able to tell the one you love before they leave makes it a little easier. I can only assume that Richard's family was, and
probably still is in some sort of shock! I think I would be! No I KNOW I would be!

Anyway...

I want to publicy send my sincerest heartfelt condolences to Richard's family REGARDLESS of what relationship HE and I had on this
board and the BNO board! I have learned that life is way too short to hold a grudge no matter how large or how childish! Before you know it, life HERE is over and you never get a second chance to make things right! Let's just hope that wherever we go, we can meet again and do JUST that, make it right!

Again, I am so sorry for the loss of a fellow busnut and if the family needs anything, or help with anything please feel that the
bus community is here to help! I know I am!

Ace & Susan

And another fine traveller moves on....

time well spent.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

Over the years Richard has been a tremendous resource and avid helper to anyone interested in this wonderful hobby.  He was a walking encyclopedia on bus topics.  He helped me and I know many others on more than one occasion.

I had the opportunity to meet him at the Timmonsville, SC Rally a couple of years ago -- that was a thrill for me. 

He had expressed an interest in attending the Bus-Nuts Gathering we hosted in May (Wade, NC) of this year--it would depend on how he felt.  He was missed.

The bus conversion hobby has lost a real asset and bus nut.

Our prayers and thoughts are with the family.  He truly lived up to his life's philosophy.  "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, a good Reisling in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming:  WOO HOO, what a ride!!!!!"

Enjoying the journey in NC,

Gene Lewis 
05 Eagle

I was certainly shocked and saddened to hear this. Like so many of you, I learned to respect Richard by reading his posts here on the forum. I am glad to say that I got to know him a little better by talking to him on the phone when I was working on his computer for him. I never met him face to face but it was easy enough to tell what a great person he was. I know he is in a better place so I will send my prayers out to those that loved him that he had to leave behind.

Heaven just became a better place.

Hi Folks,

Hillery, Richards Grand Daughter sent us some pics of Richard, his wife and DML.

Enjoy!
Nick-

Very nice pics! Thanks Hilary & Nick for sharing them with us!

I especially like the one of Richard hanging onto the mirror while doing his pretrip inspection in his driving hat & boots! LOL!

;D  BK  ;D

Rest easy my friend you deserve it!

Thanks for sharing with us Nick.

A great idea as many of us have never met them.

Paul

Thanks Nick,

I was going to ask if anyone had a picture of Richard, as we had never met in person.

I can visualise him saying his written words now.

As far as the rest of you go, I am probably more generous in my perception than you deserve.... ;D

Cliff

Hi Folks,

Here are some more of Richard's pics provided by Hilery.
His 4104, and antique cars.

Nick-

And more...

Again thank you Hilary & Nick!

Great pictures and it really helps us to picture the man behind the "Driving Miss Lazy" name we all became so familiar with.

He will be missed, but definitely not forgotten!  ;D  BK  ;D

From Quebec, Canada...I would like to add my condolences...to family and friends (many)...

Take care!

Richard was a friend to many and known to all.

After seeing Jack Conrad's Train Horn Video, I have decided that on October 2, 2008 at 2PM ET, (two weeks after Richard Bowyer's passing), I'm going to air up my bus, no matter where I am. While it is airing up I am going to reflect on all that Richard has done for me personally and for the community as a group and for the world in general.

As soon as my compressor cuts out, I am going to give an old railroad signal... the signal is 2 long blasts, one short blast and one long blast.... This is the signal that is universal.. It's called the "Final Rule" and Signals that the train is approaching a crossing.

http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/funfacts/signals.shtml

I request that all of you who are able do the same thing at the same time.

Richard has made the crossing and is now free of this mortal coil.

I will record my tribute, and if you are able to, please do so. If you will send it to me, I'll edit it and put it all together as an online Tribute to Richard.

Thanks
Dallas

Quote from: Dallas on September 29, 2008, 07:14:00 AM
As soon as my compressor cuts out, I am going to give an old railroad signal... the signal is 2 long blasts, one short blast and one long blast.... This is the signal that is universal.. It's called the "Final Rule" and Signals that the train is approaching a crossing.
Dallas

This is also Morse code for the letter Q.  We will be at Palmetto Cove and will try to remember to do this.   As far as a video, please use the video I  put on Youtube as it also includes John Vickery.   Thanks, Jack

Good idea Dallas,

If I'm still home I'll do it! ;)

Paul

At 14:00 ET this afternoon I urge everyone to air up your buses and give a "Final Rule" blast on your air horns in honor of our late friend and community mentor, Richard Bowyer.

The "Final Rule Signal" is 2 long blasts, one short blast and one long blast.... This is the signal that is universal.. It's called the "Final Rule" and Signals that the train is approaching a crossing.

Or friend has made the crossing.

If you can, record the sound or video with whatever you have handy... My cell phone will record both video and sound as will my digital camera on "Video" setting.

If you get a recording, I would like you to send it to me and I'll make a collage and post it on the internet.

Thanks,

Dallas

By the way, 14:00 ET is 18:00 Zulu, or 18:00 GMT, or 13:00 CT, 12:00 CT or 11:00 MT, or 10:00 PT.

I would be happy to post the UTC or UTC1 time, but I doubt that anyone would actually be able to to verify the fact with our present state of time keeping.

what ever time it is for you,... PLEASE, toot your Flute for Richard.. he was our friend and our mentor. Without him, we would have a lot less knowledge and love here.

Dallas

Done! and with Gary Labombard's help, it is recorded.  Buses are starting to arrive, so I will send it Dallas a little later.  Jack

Dallas,

Mine is done also and sent to your email addy.

Paul

In another thread I mentioned that we had a general meeting at our Eagle Rally in Branson and that I would play the YouTube (Conrad/train whistle) at the meeting.  It turns out that was 10/2, but a bit later.

I also mentioned that the Driving Miss Lazy Eagle was at the rally.  Mike Crouch (owner) gave me the switch plate cover that was just inside the door entrance.  He wanted to get it to Richard's family.  Would someone give me a PM or an email (jim at rvsafetysystems dot com) and tell me where I can mail it? 

We have lost two great Eagle folks in the past month or so.  First there was Dick Bell and then Richard.  I sure hope we don't have to read of any more losses very soon.

Thanks, Jim