Empire – After a long and joyous life, Celestine D. Bowman, age 90, died Saturday, October 9, 2021, in Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin. Services to celebrate her life will be held Tuesday, October 12, 2021, at 2:00 P.M. in Roddy Baptist Church. Burial will be private in Bowers Cemetery.

Celestine was a lifelong resident of Empire and the daughter of the late John Henry and Maggie Holland Dixon. She was a 1948 graduate of Dodge High School. In 1950, she married George W. "Buck" Bowman and they began a journey of marriage that spanned 71 years. She had a servant's heart and faithfully served the Lord at Roddy Baptist Church for many years. She found delight in caring for her family as an excellent cook, seamstress and gardener. Her church family and friends were an important part of her life. Although primarily a homemaker, she worked her early years at L&H Shirt Factory and for the Dodge County School System for a decade before enjoying her senior years.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Debbie Bowman Pruett, her brother, Bernice Dixon (Dorlan)  and her sister, Jenelle Belflower (Larry).

Left to cherish her memory is her husband, Buck Bowman of Empire; her son, Steve Bowman of Kathleen and grandson, Ryan Bowman of Bonaire and his mom, Carolyn Bowman of Kathleen; son-in-law and daughter of the heart, Jimmy and Casey Pruett of Eastman; granddaughter, Jayci Pruett Cox and grandson-in-law, David (Lisa) Cox and their children, Jaden, Seth, Kennedy and Trinity Cox of Daytona Beach, FL; grandson, Dustin (Misty) Pruett and their children, Gracie, Brycen, Nicole, KJ and Addison of Eastman; sister, ML Jones of Lakeland, FL; brother, Weldon (Janice) Dixon of Cochran; special daughter, Marcia (Jim) Dugger of Forsyth; her in-laws were like her own and she is survived by Mary and Fred Berryhill  and Bonnie Bowman of Cochran, Janice Harrison of Bonaire, Carl and Gail Bowman of Danville and Terry Bowman of Cochran.

Mom, it is hard to say goodbye, but we know you are in the Father's hands. You will be in our hearts always.

The family will greet friends after the service Tuesday at Roddy Baptist Church.