Clara Jean (Steinert) Bowman

Clara Jean (Steinert) Bowman, age 95, passed away August 28, 2014, of natural causes at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House. She was born April 5, 1919, in Shattuck (Ellis County), OK, the fourth of fourchildren. Clara grew up on a farm in Shattuck, OK, but moved with her parents and siblings during her teenage years to Glendale, CA, where she attended Glendale Union Academy and La Sierra College as a pre-nursing student. She completed her clinical nursing training at Glendale Sanitarium and Hospital in the early 1940s and used these skills working in a physician's office for a number of years. In 1947, she married James Shaw Bowman. They spent their lives together in southern California: first in Lynwood, followed by Ojai, and then 30+ years in Camarillo, where she continued to live after her husband Jim passed away. Clara eventually moved to an assisted living center in Thousand Oaks, CA. In 2013, she followed her nephew Floyd Hansen and his wife Rose to Maine where she lived at Kindred Village Crossings. Whenever or wherever she was needed, Clara was there to help. She served as a "substitute mom" after the Hansen children's mother, Mary (Clara's older sister) passed away. Family was very important to her. Her nephews and niece fondly remember fun times spent at her home: eating fried eggs and kipper for breakfast, putting golf balls in the "rumpus room," and "helping" mow the lawn. In addition, Clara was generous and lavished gifts on those she loved. Although Clara never had children of her own, she loved cats and couldn't resist taking in stray cats that came to her door. Clara was a great cook and was well-known for her scrumptious dinners followed by desserts such as Pyramids, Jell-O with grapes and tangerines, chocolate pudding with whipped cream, a hot drink, and chocolate mints. She also loved Marie Callender's pies, freshly picked Camarillo strawberries, eating at The Smoke House restaurant, and visiting Solvang. Clara had a quick mind and kept well-informed on current events, golf tournaments, and weather conditions. She had a green thumb and enjoyed caring for her flowers and fruit trees, she would say, "You can take the girl out of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the girl!" Clara also enjoyed keeping active. She is remembered by her lady friends in the Camarillo area where she was an active Pilates Yoga practitioner two to three times a week into her early 90s! Clara was preceded in death by her father, Jacob John Steinert (1968); her mother, Eva Elizabeth Becker Steinert (1962); her sister, Mary Steinert Hansen (1972); her two older brothers, Gottfried (1996) and Carl (1998); and her beloved husband Jim (2004). She is survived by Floyd and Rose Hansen, Scarborough, ME; Larry and Lisa Hansen, Marysville, CA; Don and Michelle Hansen, Plymouth, MA; Darleen Hansen, Falmouth, MA; and Don and Linda Steinert, Takoma Park, MD; as well as their children and grandchildren. Clara is resting next to her husband in the Santa Barbara Cemetery. She was an ardent supporter of It Is Written, an international Christian television ministry. Donations may be sent to It Is Written, Post Office Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91359 or online. https://giving.itiswritten.com/giveSpecial thanks to the medical personnel at the Belmont Village Assisted Living Center in Thousand Oaks, CA; Kindred Village Crossings in Cape Elizabeth, ME; and Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, ME. And especially to her nephew Floyd Hansen who has been like a "guardian angel" and cared for her needs from before the time her husband passed away until her death.Online condolences may be expressed below.