Published: February 29, 2008 09:55 pm         

Late White Sulphur mayor honored

CHARLESTON — Senators paid tribute Friday to the late White Sulphur Springs Mayor John Bowling Jr. as an astute politician and civic-minded man who instilled the same principles of public service in his children.

Bowling won a seat in the House of Delegates in 1965 and two years later was elected to the Senate.

Afterward, he was mayor of White Sulphur Springs and also a county commissioner.

“John Bowling meant a lot to Greenbrier County,” Sen. Jesse Guills, R-Greenbrier, said in floor remarks before a resolution honoring Bowling was adopted as family members observed.

“It’s been a privilege to serve in this Senate and actually sit in the position that he sat in when he served as a senator from Greenbrier County.”

Bowling’s daughter, Connie, is a legal adviser to the Senate, and a son, Bruce, served several years as president of the board of education in Greenbrier, Guills pointed out.

“Some felt he might have been a little pushy, but John Bowling meant what he said and meant to do what he felt was best for Greenbrier County,” Guills said. “More importantly, his love for White Sulphur Springs was beyond what anyone could imagine. They’re already feeling the loss in Greenbrier County and it will come for a long time. His memory will never be forgotten.”

Bowling died Feb. 9.

Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, who serves in the same district Bowling once represented, recalled how Bowling always provided him with tips on which trout streams were stocked decades ago.

In a political sense, he also provided sage advice on how to deal with political interests in Greenbrier County, the senator said.

“He was a good man,” Love said. “Good things happened in Fayette County when John was a state senator.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com