Bowers remembered as ardent supporter of Rising Sun

RISING SUN — Clinton “Clint” Bowers is being remembered by those who knew him as a Rising Sun Town Commissioner for his passion and dedication.

Bowers, 89, died last week after a long illness.

“I’m glad Clint is not suffering anymore,” said Commissioner Augie Pierson. “The town has really lost a true person who cared about this town. The town was Clint’s life.”

Pierson said Bowers’ passion often led to heated discussions, especially when it came to Rising Sun’s infrastructure woes that stymied growth for a dozen years. It was Bowers who had to make the announcement in 2004 of a building moratorium due to a lack of sufficient water and sewer.

“Clint and I had some of the most outrageous discussions over the years,” Pierson recalled, referring to it as “old school versus new school.”

“But no matter how much we disagreed, the minute we walked out of the room it was back to business as usual,” he said. “He would argue until he was red in the face ... and then say it was only business.”

It was Bowers who finally convinced Pierson that slip lining Rising Sun’s aging sewer lines was a cheaper, best case solution.

“He came in and explained it to all of us,” he said of the process of running a smaller polymer pipe inside the existing pipe to create a seal.

During the Rising Sun StreetScape project, Bowers took a lot of the heat from residents and business owners, frustrated over what was viewed as a lack of progress as Main Street was dug up from one end to the other for underground water and sewer updates and then laying down wider, ADA compliant sidewalks.

“People were hating him and yelling at him,” Pierson recalled.

Among the snags was the discoveries underground during digging, including a decades old cistern and underground fuel storage tanks.

“When they got in front of the karate school they found 2 to 3 tanks,” said Chris George, a long time Department of Public Works employee. “He didn’t get upset.”

Judy Cox, who was Mayor of Rising Sun from 2003-2010, said Bowers was her “go to guy when I wanted something done.”

“I could count on him. He was a man of his word,” Cox said.

Former Commissioner Bernie Chiominto also remembered Bowers’ passion.

“He had no problem telling you what he thought and I respected that,” Chiominto said. That happened even before he was a commissioner, he noted. “There were times he would openly debate from the audience.”

Bowers was also active in the Touchdown Club and Rising Sun Little League, serving a term as RSLL president. The family is asking that anyone who cares to make a donation in his honor, make it to Rising Sun Little League in care of RT Foard Funeral Home.

In 2005, the Rising Sun Lions Club named him Citizen of the Year.

“He gave everything he could to the town,” Pierson said.