Margret Helene Sekel Bowman

Bowman—Margret Helene Sekel Bowman, 97, on May 19, 2023, at her home in Berkeley, Calif. Margret was born on December 13, 1925, to Alfred and Elisabeth Sekel, who were Quakers, in Osnabruck, Germany. Margret was the youngest of five children. She began elementary school in Freiburg, Germany, during the Nazi regime. When students were required to participate in “Hitler Youth,” Margret’s parents removed her from school and sent her to Switzerland to live with a Quaker family and attend school there. Though she spent summers in Freiburg with her family, Margret showed great resilience and adaptability, attending schools in Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark. She usually lived with Quaker families. Margret felt continuity in her tumultuous life through regularly attending Quaker meetings.

Margret visited a family in Switzerland several times. She thought she was sent there so often because they had daughters around her age. Years later she learned that her father had notes sewn into a secret pocket in her clothing. The information in the notes was used by her Quaker hosts, along with other Quaker connections, to hide Jewish families.

After visas were granted, the family arrived in New York City in March 1940. Her father found work in Buffalo, N.Y., where the family attended Buffalo Meeting. In January 1941, Margret became a member. A few years later her father was offered a professorship at Grinnell College in Iowa. Margret attended Grinnell College, where she studied art. The family later moved to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, where she taught high school art, mostly to Native American students.

Margret earned a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1949. While attending UC Berkeley, she attended Berkeley Meeting and spent time at International House. 

Margret met Robert Bowman, a doctorate student. They married on December 15, 1951, at the courthouse in Oakland, Calif. In 1955, Bob began his studies in island biology and ornithology in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. The islands were mostly uninhabited, with no water, electricity, or roads. Margret painted pictures of the wildlife.

After Margret and Bob returned to Berkeley, they had three sons, Paul, born in 1956; Peter in 1958; and Carl in 1959. The boys attended First-day school and later became junior members of Berkeley Meeting. Margret led First-day school children to draw plants and animals in a local park. The drawings were used as inspiration for greeting cards that were sold to support conservation.

Bob made many trips to the Galapagos, often for several months. Margret worked in a variety of jobs including at the university library, and as a nurse, a baker, and for ten years, a real estate agent.

When her sons were in their early teens the family traveled to the Galapagos. Margret wrote and illustrated a children’s book entitled Blue-Footed Booby: Bird of the Galápagos.

Margret moved her membership to Berkeley Meeting in 1971. She clerked the Property Committee for many years and served on the Communications Committee. Margret’s tranquil painting of quaking aspens has hung in Berkeley Meetinghouse for many years. Paintings by Margret are on display in the homes of Berkeley Meeting families.

Margret was deeply involved in creating Friends House retirement community in Santa Rosa, Calif., while a board member of Friends Services Alliance. After the construction of Friends House in 1984, she helped organize the planting of fruit-bearing vines and trees that continue to benefit residents.

Margret was predeceased by her husband, Bob Bowman; and a son, Carl Bowman.

She is survived by two children, Paul and Peter; and one grandchild.