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Bowers Championed Athletics At USF

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

TAMPA - Richard Bowers, who helped to build the athletic programs at the University of South Florida and threw himself into charitable endeavors afterward, died unexpectedly Thursday morning. He was 77.

   Richard Bowers

Bowers, of Temple Terrace, died with his wife of 48 years and two children at his side.

Bowers was athletics director at USF from 1963 through 1982, and later made a name in the community as a fundraiser for several area charities, including the Museum of Science and Industry and the Gold Shield Foundation, which raises money for families of fallen police officers and firefighters in seven West Central Florida counties.

The cause of death was an aneurism, said Bowers' son, Rick. It happened at home. When paramedics arrived, Bowers was unresponsive. They moved him to University Community Hospital, where doctors were able to re-establish a pulse but could not save him, his son said.

"His life was full," Rick Bowers said. "He enjoyed playing golf and he went to all the sporting events around town. He helped start the USF football team 11 years ago and he went to all those football games."

Bowers' widow, Madge, said, "He was like the guy on the white horse. He was fantastic, a total Southern gentleman."

She added, "He had a favorite quote: 'You can do an awful lot of good in the world if you don't care who gets the credit,' and Dick never wanted credit for anything."

Gold Shield Executive Director Joe Voskerichian said the news of Bowers' death was devastating. They knew each other for 30 years.

"We lost a great friend," Voskerichian said. "He was a great friend to the community and to me, Gold Shield and the university."

The two attended a friend's funeral Monday and last spoke late Wednesday about the Gold Shield Foundation's annual fundraiser. Bowers was excited about booking Joe Girardi, newly hired manager of the New York Yankees, as keynote speaker.

USF softball coach Ken Eriksen played baseball at USF when Bowers was the athletics director.

"I was struggling with a computer class and he walked to the class with me, sat down with my professor and said, 'What can this young man do to get better with this class?'" Eriksen recalled.

"He was definitely the epitome of an old-time AD, he knew everyone's name, he was involved with everything."

Sun Dome Inc. President Steven Oscher knew Bowers for more than 25 years.

"If you met him, 30 seconds later you weren't just a friend, you were either a really, really close friend or a close friend," Oscher said. "He was frankly a mentor, not just to me, but to so many graduates over the years."

Besides his wife and son, Bowers is survived by his daughter, Delisa; two grandchildren, Casey and Carissa Alfonso; and his sisters, Alberta Frank and Kathryn Henry.

Bowers was a retired Army captain and graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in physical education from the University of Tennessee. He received his doctoral degree in education from Vanderbilt-Peabody College.

He taught at King College in Bristol, Tenn., where he met his wife, and both traveled to Burma to teach at the University of Rangoon on a Fulbright scholarship. He then taught at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, W.Va., before moving to Connecticut to teach at Central Connecticut State University.

In 1963, Bowers moved to Tampa, where he assumed the USF athletics director position and held it for 19 years. He resigned that post to become director of development in the university's college of business, a position he held until his retirement four years ago.

In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked by the family to send donations to either the Gold Shield Foundation or the Richard T. Bowers Scholarship at USF's College of Business.

Reporter Brett McMurphy contributed to this report. Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib

.com.

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