Class of 1916

Birth: Nov. 8, 1897, North Carolina, USA
Death: Jul. 22, 1977, Watauga County, North Carolina, USA

Parents: 
Luther Augustus Lentz
Laura I. Barrier

Spouse: Rev. George Stewart Bowden (1893 – 1944)

Children: 
George Stewart Bowden (1921 – 1964)
Catherine Bowden Norris

Burial:
Oakwood Cemetery
Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina, USA

Source: www.findagrave.com, # 114960739.

____________

Salisbury Evening Post (Salisbury, NC), May 24, 1919, p.2.

BOWDEN-LENTZ WEDDING
Lutheran Church at Mount Pleasant the Scene of a Beautiful Event.

The marriage of Miss Laura Lentz at her home in Mount Pleasant on Wednesday was an event of much interest throughout Cabarrus. The bride is well known to many Salisbury people, having visited her sister, Mrs. A. G. Chase here. The following account of the wedding was sent out on Thursday to the Concord Tribune:

Holy Trinity Lutheran church at Mount Pleasant was the scene of one of the most beautiful events held in the village in many years, when on last evening Miss Laura Lentz became the bride of Rev. George Stewart Bowden of Wilmington.

Mrs. M. C. Bowman, organist of Holy Trinity and aunt of the bride, presided at the pipe organ, playing Lohengrin’s March as a processional and Mendelssohn’s for recessional and using a soft voluntary during the ceremony. Mrs. J. E. Schenck, clad in black lace and wearing red roses, sang impressively just before the procession entered “All Joy Be Thine,” and “Until.”

The procession was led by the ushers, Messrs. John B. Freimuth, Wilmington; Virgil B. Schenck, Mount Pleasant; J. H. McDaniel, Woodleaf; Vogit Mayer, Greenwood, S. C. The bridal party included Dr. Z. Lester Edwards, Washington, N. C., with Miss Bonnie Misenheimer, Mt. Pleasant; Mr. O. f. Blackwelder, Concord, with Miss Mary Lee Bernhardt, Salisbury; Mr. H. P. Wyrich, Rural Retreat, Virginia, with Miss Anna Schenck, Mt. Pleasant; Rev. J. M. Kluttz, Charleston, S. C., with Miss Laura Heilig, Mt. Pleasant. Little Misses Julia Katherine Bowmen, Waycross, Ga., and Margaret Ella Lentz, Mt. Pleasant, followed as flower girls, carrying baskets of sweet peas. Miss Mary Lentz, Mt. Holly maid of honor, entered next, and ,then, Master Charles Chase, Salisbury, carrying the ring in a large white rose. The bride came to the alter on the arm of her brother, Mr. Russell B. Lentz, while the groom entered with his best man and brother, Mr. James H. Bowden, Wilmington.

Rev. R. A .Goodman, the bride’s pastor and former instructor of both bride and groom in college days, performed the ceremony before a full congregation in which were included the student bodies of the Collegiate Institute and Mont Amoena Seminary, where Mr. Bowden and Miss Lentz once “went to school.” The beautiful Lutheran liturgy with ring was used.

The bride wore a gown of white embroidered georgette crepe and veil sprinkled with orange blossoms. The maid of honor wore a gown of flesh georgette crepe and hat that matched. the bridesmaids were clad in white organdie dresses with picture hats, and carried corsages of sweet peas.

____________

The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), 26 Jul 1977, 8.

MRS. GEORGE S. BOWDEN, SR.

Hickory, NC. Mrs. George S. (Laura Lentz) Bowen, Sr. of 356 Seventh Ave. N. E. died Friday, July 22, 1977 in Blowing Rock. Funeral services were held July 24 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Hickory. Burial followed in Oakwood Cemetery, Gastonia. Mrs. Bowden was born Nov. 8, 1897 in Mt. Pleasant, the daughter of the late Luther Augustus and Laura Barrier Lentz. She attneded Mont Amoena Seminary in Mt. Pleasant. On May 22, 1919, she married the Rev. Mr. Bowden, a Lutheran minister who served pastorates at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, Charleston, SC, 1919-22; St. Paul Lutheran Church, Strasburg, Va. 1922-29; and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Gastonia, 1929-44. Mrs. Bowden assumed duties in 1945 as Dean of Women at Lenoir-Rhyne College and served in that position until her retirement in 1965. She also served as Southern Conference President of the Women’s Missionary Society of the Lutheran Church in North Carolina, 1940-42; President of the Women’s Auxiliary of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, 1945-46; and President of Lutheran Church Women of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 1949-51. Mrs. Bowden was preceded in death by her husband who died in 1944 and a son, the Rev. George S. Bowden, Jr. who died in 1964. She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Jeff L. (Catherine) Norris of Hickory, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

____________

(Unidentified newspaper)

August 11, 1977
Mrs. Laura Lentz Bowden, 79, of Hickory died unexpectedly July 22 in Blowing Rock where she was visiting with her daughter, Mrs. Catherine (Jeff) Norris.

The funeral was conducted July 24 by Pastor William F. Milholland at St. Andrew Church adjoining Lenoir-Rhyne College were she had been counselor and dean of women from 1945 through 1965. Burial was in Oakwood Cemetery in Gastonia where her husband Pastor George S. Bowden was buried in 1944.

She was born in Cabarrus County November 8, 1897, the daughter of the late Luther and Laura Barrier Lentz. She was married to newly-ordained Pastor George S. Bowden May 22, 1919. Parishes he served were in Charleston, S. C., Strasburg, Virginia, and Holy Trinity, Gastonia.

She is survived by her daughter, Mrs. Catherine (Jeff) Norris of Hickory, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. A son, Pastor George S. Bowden, Jr., died in 1964.