On Thursday June 3rd, 2021, Richard Jeffery Bower, loving and deeply devoted husband and father passed away at age 52 from cancer.
Jeff fought colon cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer and lung cancer. Too many humans don’t survive cancer at all. Jeff fought back five types of cancer for nearly half a decade. He was a formidable opponent – a daily demonstration of human strength, resilience, defiance and bravery.
After Jeff’s second vaccination for COVID, his health turned. Regardless, he found the pure, deep-rooted energy to sit, to talk, to smile – six feet apart – with loved ones and friends. He continued, with steadfast devotion to care deeply for his close family and spent only a few hours in hospital before he passed.
His last words were only those of concern for those left behind …
Jeff was born on June 30, 1968 in Scarborough, Ontario to Bill and Peggy Bower. He had a sweet spot for the small-town newspaper. He took Print Journalism at Centennial College where he met and fell head-over heels in love with Patti Eileen Allen.
The two married on September 19, 1992. First, they welcomed a kind son whom they named Richard Evan and second a sweet daughter named Madeleine Grace.
Jeff loved his family above all else and he had many passions including baseball, fly fishing and music. He especially liked the Tragically Hip and seldom missed an opportunity to see them live. He liked his steak medium rare, his Scotch single malt and his cigars Cuban. In fact, Cuba was his favourite place on Earth, and he visited it as often as he could.
Jeff was known for his quick wit, his bone-dry humour, his accurate knowledge of news-worthy topics and his enormous heart (though he would never admit the part about his two-sizes-too-big heart.)
He is survived by his wife Patti, his children, Evan and Madeleine, his sister Michelle, his Mom Peggy, his father-in-law Ross, brother-in-law Brian, sister-in-law Ghlynn, cousins Bill, Jennifer, Matthew, Eric, Katy, niece Alicia, nephews Brice and Blaine, aunts Cathy, Karen, Di, and Janice and Uncle Brent. Jeff’s is reunited with best friend and father Bill – a fellow cancer warrior and there is no doubt that the two are enjoying a wee dram of single malt and a nice cigar before sitting down to a steak dinner tonight.
Due to COVID-19, a funeral service will not be held. Instead, a Celebration of Life Party will be held when we can safely gather again. And it will indeed be a party, because Jeff wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Jeff Richard Bower 2021..
steckley-gooderham funeral homes
Death notice for the town of: BARRIE, Province: Ontario