Nancy Lee Ball Bowman, 81, passed away peacefully Monday, January 17, 2022 after a brief illness. She was blessed to live a full and active life right to the end.
She was born February 12, 1940 in Monette, Arkansas to Henry and Amanda Harrell Ball. She was the second of four children, her other sibling being Edward, Linda, and Phillip.
Like generations before her as a child she worked on the family farm chopping and picking cotton in addition to other essential chores like churning butter, working in the garden, canning, and sewing.
She attended Monette High School where she excelled in math and history. She was a standout basketball player and member of a championship team that went undefeated in 1957, winning 35 straight games. She won several local and county beauty contests and was Miss Monette 1957, the year she graduated.
She found joy in all the activities and familiar routines of family. She was industrious and ambitious; always busy, always building, planning, and organizing. She had a strong work ethic and a powerful drive to succeed. And she was always encouraging others to do their best.
She married Lee Allan Bowman of Monette and moved to West Memphis, Arkansas to start a new life, taking a job at Bank of West Memphis where she rose from secretary to Vice President and Trust Officer.
She left the bank to become a business owner, founding along with her husband Big River Honda in West Memphis which in the 1970s they built into the world's largest motorcycle dealership
After selling the business she went into real estate, eventually moving to Cordova, Tennessee and working in residential real estate as a broker and builder until she retired.
She enjoyed golf and dancing and was a long time member of the Grand Krewe Ennead of the Cotton Carnival/Memphis Carnival where she was a regular at their dance socials.
She was deeply religious, firmly moral, and scrupulously ethical. She was an inspiring mother and family matriarch leading by example to always do what was right and honest. She loved her family above all things and was devoted and generous, always putting others before herself, always ready to offer a helping hand and be of service. She will be sorely missed by her family and friends and her memory will always inspire us all to be, and do, the best we can.
She is survived by her two sons, Alan Bowman of Eastchester, New York and Bryan Bowman of Collierville; her sister Linda Stotts of Jonesboro, her brother Phillip Ball of Truman; and her grandchildren, Madigan and Ruby Bowman of Collierville, Dr. Fiona Roediger of New York, New York, and Jan Roediger of Uchte, Germany; her aunt Frances Harrell Adams of West Memphis; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
She was predeceased by her brother Edward Ball, and her husband Lee Bowman.
She was a member of First Baptist Church of Monette and United Methodist Church of Marion.
A celebration of her life will begin with Visitation from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday, January 21, at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Avenue, Memphis.
A second Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, January 22 at First Baptist Church in Monette, Arkansas. Services and Interment will follow at 1 p.m. with Bobby Pollan officiating.
Memphis Funeral Home 901-725-0100 Gregg Funeral Home 870-486-2266
