Lois Bowles celebrated her 100th birthday at a family gathering in Mountlake Terrace on Jan. 7.
She was born Jan. 3, 1912, in Ferndale, Wash., to Guy and Mabel Bailey. She spent the early years of her life on her father’s dairy farm and was active with farm chores.
The family move to Seattle in 1919, where Guy Bailey worked for the Seattle Lighting Company until his retirement. Lois graduated from Lincoln High School in Seattle in 1929 a few months before the stock market crash.
She married George Bowles in 1935 and they had four children, Marcia, Judi, Jim and Vicki. George worked at the Bremerton Navy Yard during the war. In 1947, they moved to Yakima and operated a grocery store. They sold the store in 1962 and bought an orchard that they ran until George’s death in 1966.
Lois retired from the city of Yakima Water Department in 1977.
She has been very active in her church as well as various civic groups throughout her life. She’s been an avid bridge player in retirement and credits her involvement with bridge as one of the keys to her longevity. Never afraid to tackle new challenges, she bought her first computer 10 years ago and now plays bridge online.
Besides her four children, she has two sons-in-law, Jerry Smith (Judi) and Rick Anderson (Vicki) and one daughter-in-law, Sylvia Bowles (Jim). She also has eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
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