Alfred Bowen was born January 29, 1903, and grew up on a farm in Milaca, Minnesota. He moved to Beloit in 1920, and in 1926 he married Elizabeth Smith in Beloit.

He was employed as a salesman for Gardner Machine Company. Later, the Bowens were transferred to New York by Gardner’s. In 1937 they returned to Beloit, and in that year, Al invented a successful face-grinding machine. This machine was a very significant advance in grinding.

He left Gardner’s after being employed there for 25 years. Al entered into a licensing agreement with Besly Welles for the production and sale of the grinders. The grinders were large, some of them exceeding eight feet in diameter.

He then became a real estate developer. His first subdivision was the Totem Mounds Subdivision in Beloit. In 1951 he bought the Green Farm of 300 acres in Northern Illinois. Impressed by the natural beauty of the area, he began to develop the Ledges Subdivision. Later he donated land for the Ledges Golf Course.

To finance the development of the course, he donated 100 residential lots surrounding the golf course, using the proceeds from the sale of these lots to build the golf course. In 1964 the National Golf Foundation said that the course was “one of the finest natural settings we have encountered in our experience.”

Mr. Bowen was active in the Rockton Rotary. He was its President and developed the idea of remodeling Camp Rotary, a youth camp southeast of Rockton. He was also an active supporter of Boy Scouting.

Mr. Bowen was a talented drummer, and in the late 1920s he and his brother, Quentin, had their own band, “The Bowen Brothers Gloom Chasers.” They played engagements throughout Minnesota, Southern Wisconsin, and Northern Illinois.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, were active in Treble Clef of Beloit. He also served as president and was a long-standing supporter of the Beloit Community Concert series.

An outdoorsman at heart, he was a charter member and was very active in the Beloit Saddle Club. He was a dedicated member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church of Rockton.

Alfred Bowen died on February 1, 1986. A Beloit Daily News editorial at the time of his death said in part, “Al Bowen also saw things in people which others might have missed and his capacity for friendship was wonderful. He served his church, young people and his ideals of scientific usefulness and natural beauty.”