Obituary

Brent T. Bowers, age 81
Brewster, MA

Brent Thornton Bowers died Sept. 27 with his wife at his bedside after struggling for years with Lewy Body Dementia. The debilitating disease finally robbed him of all his faculties--- but not his beautiful soul.

He was born in Beaver Dam, WI on May 3, 1944, to Dr. Robert E. and Elizabeth (Greene) Bowers and grew up in Hanover, IN, where his father was a history professor at Hanover College. His middle name, Thornton, was chosen as a tribute to playwright Thornton Wilder, his father’s beloved professor at the University of Chicago.

After graduating from Mt. Hermon School for Boys in Gill, MA., Brent earned his B.A. in History from Earlham College, Richmond, IN, in 1966. He then spent three years teaching English in the Peace Corps in Tunisia—a placement that helped him become fluent in French. His French was so good and his skin so tanned that locals grew angry at him when he couldn’t respond in Arabic! Upon his return to the United States, Brent enrolled in the master’s program in International Journalism at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. There, he met his future wife, Barbara. After a whirlwind romance, they married in March 1970, then traveled to France that September, spending six months living and writing in a cold-water flat in Paris to earn their degrees. Despite a painfully tight budget, they still enjoyed the City of Light—walking miles of its streets by day, sipping coffee and munching croissants in sidewalk cafes, and exploring the Louvre’s treasures on many a Sunday when admission was free.

Back in the States in 1971, Brent began a career that took him to the heights of American journalism. Starting out, he spent three years as editor of The Bellefontaine Examiner in Bellefontaine, OH. He moved on to report for United Press International in New York, before becoming Bureau Chief at Dow Jones News Service in Brussels, Belgium in 1978. Brent later transferred to Dow Jones’ European edition of the Wall Street Journal, also in Brussels, where his editing post took him throughout Europe to mentor the Journal’s many non-staff correspondents.

In December 1985, with two children in tow, Brent and his wife moved back to the New York area where he continued with the Journal, but this time its U.S. edition. During this period, he partnered with his wife and friends Henry and Tracy Gottlieb to write a best-selling book, “1,000 Years, 1,000 People,” which highlighted the most influential people of the first millennium AD. By November 1994, he had jumped to The New York Times as a small-business editor, a position he maintained until his retirement in 2007. At both publications, Brent was a valuable asset to reporters who realized what a gifted wordsmith he was as he lent his deft touches to the blandest prose and made it sing.

He spent much of his later years editing books for a former colleague, writing essays on topics of interest and penning memoirs meant for his children and grandchildren. He had a great passion for reading but always drew the line at novels whose protagonists were writers, too.

His poker games with his Eastham buddies were weekly high points. He also took great pleasure in blazing trails on his forested property. Along those lines, he especially enjoyed his volunteer duties protecting parcels of land belonging to The Brewster Conservation Trust.

Brent loved being with people and his smile was dazzling. When he turned it on, the family jokingly termed it, “The Bowers Charm.” He often flashed that smile for residents and staff at his nursing home. He’d tool down the halls in his wheelchair, hailing everyone he passed. Some even dubbed him “The Mayor.”

He also was a man of deep faith. At Prospect Presbyterian Church, Maplewood, NJ, he taught Sunday School for many years. At Trinity Lutheran Church, Brewster, MA, he served as board secretary. For a brief period, he also led the Cape Cod Chapter of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, whose cause he devoutly embraced.

Above all, Brent was devoted to his family, treasuring his wife, his children, their spouses and his grandchildren. Barbara said a deciding factor in her decision to marry him was one indication of this: his faithful practice of writing to his elderly grandmother on a weekly basis.

Brent’s family is enormously grateful to the kind, compassionate and respectful staff at The Terraces in Orleans, MA, where he spent his last year, and Broad Reach Hospice, Chatham, MA, all of whom made his final days comfortable and peaceful.

Along with his wife, survivors include his daughter, Jennie Bowers (Dan Falsetto), of Berkely, CA; his son, Matthew Bowers (Maria Gendron) of Durham, CT; brothers, Bruce of Eugene, OR and Robert of New London, NH : grandsons, Owen and Zev Falsetto; numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

A funeral service will be held Monday, Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1883 Main St., Brewster. Viewing will precede the service at 10 a.m. at the church. Following the service, there will be a reception in the church’s lower level.

A celebration of Brent’s life is planned for May 2026 on Cape Cod.