Robert Mowris

YUMA, ARIZ./MADISON, WIS.-Robert Earl Mowris died Sat. July 23, 2011, surrounded by his family after heart and organ failure following a stroke. Bob was born in Grand Folks, N. D. on Nov. 15, 1924, to Velma and Indrid Johnson. Indrid died and Velma remarried Lyle Mowris, who raised Bob. Bob spent his childhood in North Dakota and Minnesota graduating in 1943 from Bismarck High School. In 1942 he joined the Navy Reserves. He served on a U.S. Naval mine sweeper in the Pacific and was honorably discharged after WWII. Upon his return from the service, he married Lillian Zavoral in 1945. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of North Dakota in 1952, where he also won a varsity letter playing hockey. He took a job in Evansville, Indiana for two years before accepting a position with Gibbs Manufacturing in Janesville where he worked for more than 30 years, leaving the company as president. As a co-founder of Accudyne Inc., he helped that company grow substantially, and eventually retired when the company was sold. During his working years, he developed a variety of side-business entities. He founded and operated “51 Fairways” golf driving range in Janesville, where Pic-n-Save now stands. All nine of his children learned teamwork and discipline from picking up golf balls by hand every morning on the golf range from May through October for an honest wage of a six-ounce bottle of soda. As his career negotiating contracts with the military grew he traveled across the country and across the globe. Yet, he managed to enjoy golfing, fishing in Canada with several of his sons, attending badger hockey and football games and rooting for the Green Bay packers. In 1980 he married Bonnie Larson, with whom he shared over 30 wonderful years. Combining two families brought Bob and Bonnie a total of 13 children, 36 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. Spending time at his lake house in Lake Mills and overseeing his garden and fruit trees became a passion. Bonnie and Big Daddy, as his adult children called him, became winter residents in Yuma, Ariz. for almost 20 years escaping the snow and cold for a kinder climate. Bob was an entrepreneur at heart always ready with a quip or tip for a would-be business adventurer. Bob is survived by his wife of 31 years, Bonnie Larson Mowris; children including Judith Mowris of Janesville, Gerald (Leah) Mowris of Madison, Richard (Mary) Mowris of Rockford, Ill, David (Mona) Mowris of La Crosse, Robert (Kathy) Carlson Mowris of Lake Tahoe, Calif., Mary (Tom) Dohmeier of Brookfield, Sue (Andy) Mowris Garcia of Madison, Kathrine (Marty) Aiken of Racine, Michael (Ivette) Mowris of Janesville, Barbara (Tom) Larson Easton of Madison, Patricia (John) Larson MacDougall of Janesville, Steve (Sue) Larson of Chaska, Minn., and Linda (Mark) Larson Porter of Dallas, Texas; and his half-sisters, Lois O’Hara of Janesville and Nancy Frank of St. Cloud, Minn. Funeral services will be held at GUNDERSON FITCHBURG FUNERAL HOME, 2950 Chapel Valley Rd, Fitchburg, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26, 2011. Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Monday, July 25, 2011, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Tuesday. Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Monday, July 25, 2011, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Tuesday. Funeral services will be held at GUNDERSON FITCHBURG FUNERAL HOME, 2950 Chapel Valley Rd, Fitchburg, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26, 2011.