TexasCHLforum.com

Posted on Wed, Aug. 13, 2008
Arlington's Little League community and friends pay tribute to Paul Bowman II


By MITCH MITCHELL
mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

ARLINGTON — Hours before he was killed on Sunday, Paul Bowman II was resting from his overnight data-processing job for Bank of America.

His wife and two sons left their south Arlington residence in the 900 block of Tennis Villa Drive and went shopping so Bowman could have some quiet.

When Bowman’s family returned around 1:30 p.m., they found him beaten to death and their home in disarray, police said. Bowman’s wife, Martha, was sedated and placed under a doctor’s care, family members said.

Police continue to investigate.

"It was murder," said Paul Bowman Sr., Bowman’s father. Martha "came home and found him with all his money and everything he owned all around him. He was hit twice in the head."

Martha Bowman, her two children and several members of the Bowman family stood with more than 300 friends at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on the Green Field at Cravens Park, where they honored the way Bowman lived his life.

Many of those surrounding home plate were the children who played Little League baseball with Bowman’s children, or were members of the team he coached, or players who participated in the games he umpired, or parents who purchased goods from the concession stand he manned.

"This family has had its stability ripped out from underneath it, and they could use our help," said Bob Ritter, one of the coaches with the Southeast Arlington Little League.

Bowman was described as the consummate father, not just to his own children, but for children in the entire neighborhood. "We would joke around with him a lot," said Lance LeVan, Southeast Arlington Little League president. "We’d tell him to go home.  . . .  But late at night, he’d still be there, doing whatever he could for the kids."