Robert Lee Bowen Jr. (MC) died on January 22, 2017, in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 66. He spent most of his career in the education department at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and served as assistant to the museum’s director.

His obituary published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is available below and at http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/obituaries/current-obituaries/article129044439.html

Robert Lee Bowen Jr.

FORT WORTH— Robert Lee Bowen Jr. died Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, after a brief hospitalization.

Graveside service: 3 p.m. Friday in Greenwood Memorial Park.

He was born in Breckenridge on Aug. 26, 1950, to Isabel Weaver Bowen and Robert Lee Bowen Sr. He was valedictorian, Class of 1968, at Fort Worth Country Day School and was a graduate of Yale University in 1972. He continued his art history studies at the University of Texas before being hired in the Education Department at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. There he excelled at the diplomatic maneuvering among visiting dignitaries as he personally guided them through the exhibits. He recounted one highly charged time when he was leading Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev and they kept trying to one up the other.

Bob’s warmth, wit, impeccable social skills and intellect brought him to the attention of J. Carter Brown, the museum director, and Bob was his assistant until Brown’s retirement. With his writing skills, Bob was often called to “ghost write” introductions to books published by the National Gallery to which famous people signed their names.

After Bob returned to Fort Worth, local museums often consulted him for ideas on dinners before a new exhibit opened. Bob was an amazing raconteur and storyteller and an invitation to his home for dinner was highly prized. His Christmas trees (which often fell over due to all the ornaments he artfully piled on) were the stuff of legend.

A man with a heart bigger than Texas, leaves behind a burgeoning group of friends who will always treasure their time with him.

The family would like to extend special thanks and appreciation to Dr. Robert Kelly and Maria Villegas for their compassion and support.

Survivors: Many cousins in Montana plus Melinda Lewis Hassen and her husband, Thomas E. Hassen, of Palm Beach, Fla., Marilyn Weaver Lewis of Virginia Beach, Va., and John L. Lewis Jr. and his wife, Dana Lewis, of Fort Worth.

Greenwood Funeral Home 

3100 White Settlement Road, 817-336-0584 

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