
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990                   TAG: 9003152372
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FIDDLER CONTEST FOUNDER ROBERT BOWIE, 89, DIES

Robert C. Bowie, civic leader, judge and founder of the Old Time Fiddlers' Convention in Galax, died Wednesday in Bristol, Tenn. He was 89.

Bowie, a chiropractor, served in the Virginia House of Delegates in the early 1940s. He was drafted as a successful "people's candidate" for mayor of Galax in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

He also was judge of the city's municipal court.

As a member of the legislature, he introduced an act to recognize chiropractors through licensing. He served on the Virginia Board of Medical Examiners from 1944 to 1954.

In 1936, Bowie led a drive to build the first municipal swimming pool and tennis courts in Galax. He was the first president of the consolidated Galax-Carroll-Grayson Chamber of Commerce.

His survivors include a daughter, Betsy Ballard of Picayune, Miss., and sons Bobby W. Bowie of Ridgefield, Conn., and Jimmy D. Bowie of Bristol.

Funeral services will be conducted by the Rev. Dr. Carroll Golden and the Rev. Dr. James Pickens at 3 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church in Galax.

Private burial services will follow in the Worrell Cemetery in Woodlawn.

by CNB