Sara Skidmore Bowman passed away at 10:10 a.m. on Friday, June 20, 2025, having entered this world on October 10, 1932, in Albemarle, NC. She was a graduate of Albemarle High, lettering in basketball (1950), and earned her RN at the Presbyterian School of Nursing (1953). She was introduced to Clay, her best friend and husband of 60 years, on a blind date when he was stationed at Bethesda Naval Hospital and Sara was working as a nurse at The Chestnut Lodge, a psychiatric hospital, in Rockville, MD. She supported Clay in his 20-year U.S. Naval career. From Maryland, Sara and Clay were next stationed in Idaho, before settling in Newport News in 1960 when Clay was stationed at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, after which, he retired from military service and became a nuclear auditor for the NN Shipyard. Sara taught pre-school at Hidenwood Presbyterian Church for 10 years (1977-86) beloved by students and parents alike. In addition, she was active in the church, community Bible study, Girl Scouts, and being a loving daycare provider for 3 of her grandchildren. She was a member of Hilton Presbyterian Church and actively shared her faith and love of Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior, with others, verbally and in acts of Christian kindness throughout her life.
Sara found joy in every aspect of life, delighting in sending and receiving cards and letters, Elvis, board games (Ticket to Ride was her favorite), Coca-Cola, Tom Cruise, missing vowels word search puzzles, and trips to Disney World. She always found time to share how proud she was of those she cared about and would remind them frequently how deeply she loved them.
Sara is survived by her five children: David Bowman (Kathy), Elizabeth Bowman, Rosemary Lynn McLaughlin (Jim), Doug Bowman, Lisa McKean (Greg); eight grandchildren: Miles, Karla, Amy (Greg), Joe, Sam, Ted, Philip (Kendall), Staci; and, two great-grandchildren: Ethan and Landon. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Katherine (1962), and her husband, Clay (2014).
Charitable giving was very important to Sara, and she would appreciate memorial donations to either Hilton Presbyterian Church or her favorite charity, Samaritan’s Purse.
Visitation for Sara will be held at the Peninsula Funeral Home on Thursday, June 26, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
Join us in celebrating the life of Sara Bowman on Friday, June 27th, at noon, at Hilton Presbyterian Church.
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Sara was our daughter Anne’s Hidenwood Preschool teacher in 1984-5–what a loving and caring person she was! She gave all her students a wonderful educational start, and our Anne particularly loved singing with Sara (so many wonderful preschool songs she taught.). She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.