For many of those who knew Powhatan resident Lucie Anne Bowles, her zest for life was something they will never forget.

“She was a ball of fire,” says Elwood Yates, Bowles’ nephew, who recalls that the former music teacher was involved in the community well into her 90s.
Bowles was 96 when she passed away on Aug. 31, and had spent much of her life devoted to her twin passion of teaching and music.

Born in Surry County to the late Clinton and Grace Lane, Bowles graduated from Longwood College in 1932 and studied music at the Schemmel Conservatory of Music in Farmville.
She was a teacher at Powhatan High School for 10 years, and served as guidance counselor at Huguenot Academy for 20 years. She also gave piano lessons.

Lucie Anne Bowles was a member of the Powhatan Garden Club, the Women’s Club of Powhatan, the Powhatan Historical Society, the Surry County Historical Society, and a former member of the John Randolph Chapter of Surry County A.P.V.A.

She was a member of May Memorial Baptist Church, and served as a Sunday school teacher, president of the W.M.U., choir director, and church pianist.
Bowles was the widow of L. Julian Bowles, and she was preceded in death by one sister, Blanche L. Peele. She is survived by one daughter, Joan Marie Bowles; niece, Alice Joy Mackie and her husband, Jack; two nephews, B.T. Peele III and his wife, Jo, and Elwood F. Yates Jr. and his wife, Vicki; three great-nephews, B.T. Peele IV, Adam Mackie, Justin Mackie; brother-in-law, E. Floyd Yates; and several Bowles nieces and nephews.

Yates says he will remember his aunt as someone who loved being involved in the community, and enjoyed many lifelong friendships.
Near the end of her life, when she had gone to live in an assisted living facility, “she had more visitors than anyone else.”
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