Person Page

     Robert Steven Bowditch was born on 7 April 1917 in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois.^3,1 He married as his second wife Sylvia R. Ceasar, daughter of Dominic Ceasar and Rose Dabbiere, on 11 September 1943 at the Post Chapel at Boca Raton Army Air Field in Broward Co., Florida.⁵ He married third Ida Pearl Ward on 8 June 1968 at the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles Co., California.^6,7 He died on 18 June 1989 in San Diego Co., California, at age 72 from brain cancer.^8,9
     At birth his name was listed on his birth certificate as Robert King Sproerer, although his surname apparently should have been "Gfroerer." Several other sources clearly use that as his father's surname.^3,10,11 When his mother was remarried in 1920 he was formally adopted by his stepfather Harvey Russell Bowditch, and took the name Robert Steven Bowditch.⁴
     He graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Champaign Co., Illinois, with a degree in electrical engineering¹², and in 1940 was working for Avtex Corp. in Chicago.¹³
     On 26 April 1941 he enlisted in Chicago as an aviation cadet for service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was discharged on 30 January 1946.^14,15
     The record of his marriage to Sylvia Ceasar says that he had been previously married, and divorced in Chicago, but the identity of this first wife has not been found.⁵
     After the war he worked in the defense industry doing marketing, planning, and product development, initially in the aircraft radio division at Motorola in Chicago. He later joined the Radioplane Co. in Van Nuys, Los Angeles Co., California, which was purchased by Northrup in 1952 and became part of Northrup-Ventura in Ventura Co., California. For the last 12 years of his career he was manager of new product development at Teledyne-Ryan in San Diego, San Diego Co., California.¹²
     After retiring he served on citizen's advisory committees for cable television and energy in Oceanside, San Diego Co. He was especially active in advocating for the telecast of city council meetings¹², and was the founder of KOCT, Oceanside's city cable television channel.⁹

     Patricia Mae Bowditch was born on 8 April 1922 in Park Ridge, Cook Co., Illinois.¹ She married David Schewe Arvold, son of William Vernon Arvold and Florence Schewe, on 12 August 1944 at University Presbyterian Church in Madison, Dane Co., Wisconsin.² She died on 29 September 2016 at home in Shawano, Shawano Co., Wisconsin, at age 94.⁵
     She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Dane Co., with a bachelor's degree in journalism.⁵ She and her husband David moved to Shawano, Shawano Co., Wisconsin, about 1946.⁶ She enjoyed reading, bridge, golf, and spending time at her family's cottage in Hazelhurst, Oneida Co., Wisconsin.⁵

     David Schewe Arvold was born on 28 November 1922 in Reedsburg, Sauk Co., Wisconsin.⁴ He married Patricia Mae Bowditch, daughter of Harvey Russell Bowditch and Loretta Mae Gordon, on 12 August 1944 at University Presbyterian Church in Madison, Dane Co., Wisconsin.¹ He died on 21 August 2019 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Green Bay, Brown Co., Wisconsin, at age 96 from endocarditis.⁴
     He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Dane Co., Wisconsin, under the Navy's V-12 training program, and continued at the university's medical school where he earned his M.D. He did his internship in Evanston, Cook Co., Illinois, then he and his wife Patricia moved to Shawano, Shawano Co., Wisconsin, about 1946.⁴ There he joined the Cantwell Peterson Clinic (later named the Shawano Clinic) where he was a general practitioner, made house calls, worked in the emergency room, served as the clinic's radiologist and obstetrician, and did OB/GYN surgery. He retired in 1990.⁴
     He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, enlisting in 1950, and was stationed in the U.S.⁴
     He liked music, playing trumpet in college and later piano, and singing in the church choir. He was also an avid golfer, playing until age 95.⁴

     Romola Jean Reese was born on 8 October 1905 in Toledo, Cumberland Co., Illinois.^4,5 She married Lawrence Joseph Bowditch, son of Frederick Darlington Bowditch and Helen Louise Tryon, on 21 June 1930 at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Urbana, Champaign Co., Illinois.^1,6 She died on 13 February 1998 in Wadsworth, Medina Co., Ohio, at age 92.⁴ She was buried in Port Washington, Nassau Co., New York.⁷
     She graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Champaign Co., Illinois, in 1927 with a bachelor's degree in English, then with a master's the following year, and taught English at the university for two years before her marriage.⁸
     After their marriage she and her husband Lawrence lived in New York City, possibly in the borough of Queens on Long Island where their children were born.⁶ Her husband's mother Helen lived with them there for about a year, from 1935 to 1936.⁹ They moved to Charleston, Kanawha Co., West Virginia, about 1938 or 1939, and were listed there on 8 April in the 1940 census.¹⁰ They were enumerated a second time in 1940, on 28 May in Neptune Beach, Duval Co., Florida.¹¹ They returned to New York in August 1940, possibly to Queens where their daughter Adrienne was born in 1941, or to Manhasset in neighboring Nassau Co., Long Island, where they were living by 1945.^12,13
     In Manhasset she was one of the founders of the local public library in 1945, and served as president of the Plandome Women's Club.^13,7 They were listed in Flower Hill, Nassau Co., New York, in the 1950 census.¹⁴
     They also had a summer home in Vineyard Haven, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, on Martha's Vineyard. The house formerly belonged to Capt. Gilbert Smith, and was built in the 1700s. They spent about 30 years working on its restoration, and it is now part of the West Tisbury Historic District.^15,7
     She and Lawrence both enjoyed collecting antiques, saltwater fishing, and traveling.⁷ On a charter fishing trip while vacationing in Key West, Florida, in 1949, they caught three sailfish, seven dolphins, two bonita, two mackerel, and a barracuda. The two largest sailfish, caught by Romola, were over seven feet long, and weighed 52 and 49 pounds. Lawrence's sailfish was about five feet long.¹⁶
     In 1987, seven years after her husband's death, she moved to Ohio where her daughter Adrienne and her family were then living.⁷

     Anne Elise Bowditch was born on 21 January 1934 in Flushing, Queens Co., New York.^4,5 She married James Gordon Ogden III on 28 July 1956 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts.¹ She died on 9 August 1978 in Tisbury, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, at age 44 from breast cancer.⁵ She was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Tisbury, Dukes Co., Massachusetts.⁵
     In her 1956 marriage record her occupation was listed as teacher.¹

     Adrienne Jean Bowditch was born on 23 September 1941 in Flushing, Queens Co., New York.^2,3 She married Frederic Scott Orcutt Jr., son of Frederic Scott Orcutt and Katharine Luvinia Krauskopf, on 17 July 1965 at the First Congregational Church in West Tisbury, Dukes Co., Massachusetts.¹ She died on 27 January 2016 at age 74.³
     She graduated magna cum laude from Smith College in Northampton, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts, in 1963, and at the time of her marraige in 1965 both she and her husband Scott were working toward their doctorate degrees at Sapsucker Woods Ornithology Laboratory at Cornell University in Ithaca, Tompkins Co., New York.¹
     She and Scott lived for a short time in Hinckley, Medina Co., Ohio, then moved to Sharon Twp., Medina Co., about 1973.⁴

     James Gordon Ogden III was born on 6 July 1928 in Oak Bluffs, Dukes Co., Massachusetts.³ He married first Anne Elise Bowditch, daughter of Lawrence Joseph Bowditch and Romola Jean Reese, on 28 July 1956 in Edgartown, Dukes Co., Massachusetts.¹ He died on 17 April 1996 in Oak Bluffs, Dukes Co., Massachusetts, at age 67.⁴
     He went by the nickname "Pete."⁵
     He was a limnologist (studying freshwater systems - lakes, rivers, wetlands, etc.) and paleobotanist (studying ancient plants). He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Polk Co., Florida, in 1951 and 1952, a second master's degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1954, and his Ph.D. in botany from Yale University in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, in 1958. While pursuing his education he held assistantships in biology and botany. He also taught biology at Manatee County High School in Bradenton, Manatee Co., Florida, in 1952, and worked as a climatologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven in 1956.⁵
     After receiving his Ph.D. he joined the department of botany and bacteriology at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Delaware Co., Ohio, as an assistant professor. He was soon promoted to associate professor, then professor in 1963, and served as director of the radiocarbon dating laboratory. He left there in 1969 and moved to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he was a professor in the biology department, and director of its radiocarbon dating laboratory until retiring in 1994.⁵
     He was awarded a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1962, and in 1983 received Nova Scotia's Environmental Control Award.⁵
     He was a member of the Ohio Academy of Science from 1958 to 1974, and was elected as a fellow in 1961. He was also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the American Quaternary Association, the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the Botanical Society of America, the Canadian Quaternary Association, and the Ecological Society of America. He served as co-editor and associate editor of the journal Radiocarbon from 1968 to 1981.⁵

     Bess Laing was born on 29 August 1915 in McAlpin, Raleigh Co., West Virginia.⁴ She married Robert Preston Bowditch, son of Frederick Darlington Bowditch and Helen Louise Tryon, on 5 October 1940 at the First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, Kanawha Co., West Virginia. All three of Robert's brothers were ushers.^5,1 She died on 7 December 2010 at The Forest at Duke retirement center in Durham, Durham Co., North Carolina, at age 95.³ She was buried at Westminster Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden in Durham, Durham Co., North Carolina.⁶
     Her birth record lists her given name as Bessie Louise, but all other records list her as simply Bess.⁴ She moved to Charleston, Kanawha Co., West Virginia, as a child.³
     She attended Duke University in Durham, Durham Co., North Carolina, where she served as president of her class her last two years and graduated in 1937 with a B.A. degree.¹
     After their marriage she and her husband Robert lived for a time in an apartment in the South Hills neighborhood of Charleston⁷, but by 1944 had moved into a house on Brooks St.⁸ In 1957, when Robert's job was transferred to New York City, they moved to nearby Summit, Union Co., New Jersey.⁹ They moved to The Forest at Duke in 1992, a continuing care retirement center in Durham, Durham Co., North Carolina, where they were among the first residents.³
     While living in New Jersey she was an active volunteer with the Junior League and the YWCA, and in Durham she served as chairperson of the Rose Garden Committee and the Book Club.³