Alan "Al" Douglas Bowers

On December 1, 2025, Alan ("Al"} Douglas Bowers left this earth and made his glorious appearance in Heaven. I guarantee he entered with a bang and a shout, first because he would finally meet his Lord and Savior, Jesus, secondly, he is out of pain and finally, because, well because that was Al, he really knew how to make an entrance.

Al attended East high school, after which he held several car and appliance sales jobs. He could sell anything to anyone. He lived with our mom after her tragic accident for a while. I believe that is when Al began his substance abuse, living with his paralyzed mom wasn't easy. Ultimately, he moved to Georgia where he met and married Donna Gagne. He spent many happy years there with his now ex-wife Donna, step-son Kenny and step-daughter Brandy. That evil thing called addiction hit Al hard in the later years of his marriage, causing divorce and ultimately, a move back home to Akron, where he moved in with his sister, Marilyn. While divorce is never a happy thing, it caused Al to take stock of his life. After an empty life of platitudes and promises (and after Tammy and Marilyn hounded him constantly), he finally realized that what he really needed was Jesus. Shortly after coming back home, Al accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior and never looked back. He joined Tallmadge Christian Fellowship, where his high school friend John Knepper was the preacher. He was baptized shortly thereafter and never lost his zeal for the gospel message. He absorbed the Bible and Jesus' teachings with a real hunger and a lot of questions. Seriously, a lot of questions!

Al was asked to become a member of the Board of Directors at Axxess Point, a local doctor's office. Did I mention that he made an impact wherever he went? While he was still getting around, he enjoyed going to those meetings as a layperson to all those professionals. Al joined AA here in Akron and volunteered at their main downtown offices. He moderated meetings and sponsored men like himself with addiction problems. Al lived in pain 24/7 from several debilitating back conditions but because of his addiction issues, he took no pain medicine, meaning he lived in constant devastating pain. In April of this year, Al developed chronic hypercapnia, a buildup of carbon dioxide in his lungs and was hospitalized for 8 days. This past October, Al was again hospitalized with complications from his hypercapnia, at which time he was then diagnosed with lung and lymph node cancer as well and spent another 3 weeks in the hospital. Ultimately, it was the carbon dioxide that took him away from us, causing him to peacefully slip away into his Savior's arms.

Al leaves behind his siblings: Marilyn (Mark) Teuscher, David (Dianna) Bowers, and Tammy (Paul) Lampert; nieces Amanda (Dan) Leffler, Amy (Heath) Cooper, Kim (Ben) Wright, nephews Steven (MaryBeth) Johnson and Ryan (AJ) Johnson along with multiple cousins and countless friends.

Al was preceded in death by his father and mother, James and Alice Bowers.

Visitation will be from 10:00 until 11:30 a.m. Saturday, December 6, 2025, at the Donovan Funeral Home, 17 Southwest Avenue (on the Historic Tallmadge Circle).

Funeral service will follow visitation at the funeral home at 11:30 a.m. with Pastor John Knepper officiating. A memorial luncheon will be held after the service at Tallmadge Christian Fellowship.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Tallmadge Christian Fellowship, 406 Tompkins Avenue, Akron, Ohio 44305.

Tallmadge Christian Fellowship
406 Tomkins Ave, Akron OH 44305