Steve Stibbens loses wife

CC Steve Stibbens

From Steve: Thank you, my dear Marine friends. I have truly learned what Semper Fidelis means. My wife, Lou Bowman Ford Stibbens, passed peacefully in her sleep at 0500, 1 May. Daughter Suzanne and I were with her. She leaves us with 51 years of love and wonderful memories.

Lucy had battled renal failure for many years and had been on dialysis for the past two years. She was as tough as they come. Not once did I ever hear her complain about her situation. She spent her last year in hospital and, we thought, was on the road to recovery.

Lucy and I met at a social function at the Dallas NAS in December, 1958 and were married the following March. She was a grand Marine wife, coming from strong heritage — her ggg-grandfather (Jesse B. Bowman) was one of the original settlers of Texas. As a self-proclaimed “frontiersman,” he came to Texas in 1920, even before the original colony of Moses Austin. Bowman and his two sons quickly joined up with Col. Sam Houston to fight for Texas independence and Jesse was among the 189 defenders who perished at the Alamo.

Coincidentally, her gg-grandfather (Joel H. Bowman) fought alongside my own gg-grandfather (Charles C. Stibbens) at the Battle of San Jacinto where Houston’s rag-tag army of Texicans defeated Gen. Santa Ana to win Texas Independence in 1836.

Thanks to Lucy more than myself, the code and principles of the Corps were always very important in our Marine family. Again, my daughter (who was delivered by a Naval flight surgeon, BTW) and I thank you for your messages.

Semper Fidelis,
Steve and Suzy

(Note: If you’d like to send your condolences Steve and his family write to: steve@stibbens.com)