Bowen was born in Oshawa and served in the Canadian army for five years during World War II.
[1] Bowen later received a Theology degree from McMaster University in 1977 and was ordained at the city's First Baptist Church later in the year.
Bowen and alderman William Tovell were sued by the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1978, following non-payment for an August 1978 concert to raise money for Brantford's Capital Theatre.
[6] Arthur Kelly Jr., the son of the concert organizer, later wrote that Bowen had promised the money would be paid after overhearing a conversation between his father and the orchestra's business manager.
Kelly added that the Pops was aware of the concert's shaky financial status and asserted that "if Bowen had kept his mouth shut [...] there would have been no lawsuit.