Joseph L. Bowser, a local community leader and father of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, died on Friday, Aug. 2. He was 88. As of press time, the cause of death hasn’t been revealed.
In his later years, Bowser was an advisor to the North Michigan Park community in Northeast, where he served as president of the North Michigan Park Civic Association and 10-term advisory neighborhood commissioner of what was then Single-Member District 5A03.
Bowser, born on October 5, 1935, attended St. Augustine’s Catholic School in Northwest and Armstrong High School (now Friendship Public Charter School Armstrong Campus). He later attended what was then known as Federal City College.
By the mid-1950s, Bowser started working in the D.C. public school system, where he would spend most of his 42 years of service in the Buildings and Grounds division. He served in that capacity while fulfilling his role as one of the District’s first advisory neighborhood commissioners and a chair of his commission’s public works committee.
In 1950, Bowser married Joan Davis and five children came out of that union: Mercia, Martin, Marvin, Mark and Muriel. Mayor Bowser followed in her father’s footsteps in public service, even going above and beyond. She went from advisory neighborhood commissioner, to Ward 4 D.C. council member, and eventually a three-term mayor.
In 2015, Mr. Bowser held the Bible as Mayor Bowser was sworn into office. She would later return the favor when the Bowser patriarch became an officer of the North Michigan Park Civic Association. On Saturday morning, Mayor Bowser issued a statement in honor of her father, speaking not only about his record of service but what she described as his overwhelming influence in her life.
“For 52 years, my dad has been at my side — guiding me, cheering for me, loving me,” Bowser said. “He was the first person to take me to a community meeting. The first person to teach me that if something needs to be fixed, then step up and fix it — and finish any job you start. My first example of a public servant. The first person – along with my mom – to show me unconditional love.”
Mr. Bowser’s death follows that of Mercia Bowser, who died from COVID-related complications in 2020.