J. Earle Bowden, 86, of Pensacola, FL passed away on Sunday, February 15, 2015. He grew up in Altha, FL a small Calhoun County town, the son of grocery-store merchant Jesse Walden and Earlene Elizabeth Bowden. Mr. Bowden attended Florida State University, where he studied journalism and wrote for the Florida Flambeau newspaper, before joining the U.S. Air Force. He was a military journalist stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho during the Korean War, after which he moved to Pensacola to begin his journalism career at the Pensacola News Journal on September 30, 1953. Initially a sports writer until 1958, Bowden replaced Marion T. Gaines as editor of the News Journal's editorial page in 1965 and served as editor-in-chief and vice president of the paper from 1966 to 1997. Staff at the University of West Florida's Pace Library are in the process of archiving and digitizing many of Bowden's original cartoon drawings. He has taught journalistic writing since 1983 at the University of West Florida, which awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1985. As editor of the News Journal, Bowden began campaigning in 1965 to establish the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which was authorized on January 8, 1971, and signed into law by President Nixon. For his efforts, Bowden was named an Honorary Park Ranger by the Secretary of the Interior. State Road 399 on Santa Rosa Island, which connects eastern Pensacola Beach to Navarre Beach, was named J. Earle Bowden Way in 1998. Much of the road was washed away in Hurricane Ivan. Along with Pat Dodson and Mary Turner Rule Reed, Bowden helped to establish the Seville Square Historic District in 1963. He was a charter trustee of the Historic Pensacola Preservation Board when it was formed in 1967 and has served as chairman since 1982. He became president of the organization when it was transferred to the University of West Florida and renamed West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc. (WFHPI) in 1991. The Bowden Building, headquarters of WFHPI, is named for him. His journalism, fiction and illustrations have appeared in many books, magazines and other publications, and his drawings have been published in limited edition prints. Bowden's novel, Look and Tremble, A Novel of West Florida, published June 2000 by Father & Son Publishing, Inc., Tallahassee, is based on characters and imagined stories from a fictional town in Chipola River Country during the 1930s and 1940s. The author of the 1979 West Florida memoir, Always the Rivers Flow, and the 1989 pictorial history, Pensacola: Florida's First Place City, Bowden has helped write, edit and illustrate several books on Pensacola history. They include Florida in the Civil War: 1860 through Reconstruction (1960), Siege! Spain and Britain: Battle of Pensacola, March 9-May 8, 1781 (1981); Iron Horse in the Pinelands: Building West Florida's Railroad 1881-1883 (1982); Guardians on the Gulf and Pensacola: Spaniards to Space Age (1986). His writings and illustrations have appeared in other books and publications. His 1994 book, Gulf Islands: The Sands of All, Preserving America's Largest National Seashore, was published by the Eastern Monument Association. Bowden recounts the Gulf Coast history and the community campaign he led to convince Congress to establish the national park in 1971. A former Captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Bowden is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in The World and Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors and Poets. Bowden has been named a FSU Distinguished Alumnus and has served on many state boards and commissions, including the State of Florida Advisory Council on Historical Preservation. He served on the Board of Trustees of Pensacola Junior College and was a charter member and two-time president of the University of West Florida Foundation, which honored him as a Fellow in 1982. He served a record eight years as president of the Pensacola Historical Society. Since 1982 he has been chairman of the City of Pensacola Architectural Review Board. He served as president of the Pensacola Bay Area Coalition on Literacy. Known as an active community leader and public speaker, Mr. Bowden won two national awards for editorial writing from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. He has been recognized with many community awards, among them the Pensacola Kiwanis Club Civic Award in 1981, Professional Leader of the Year (BIP Awards) in 1979 and three statewide honors from Florida Architects for his work in historic preservation. He was named Distinguished Citizen of the Year by Pensacola Junior College in 1966, received the Law Day Liberty Bell Award in 1975, and was recognized with the PACE Pioneer Award for his Pensacola leadership in 1998. In 1983, the Junior League of Pensacola established the J. Earle Bowden Junior Historian Award for student winners of the Florida History Fair in Escambia County. He was general chairman for the Galvez Bicentennial Celebration in 1981 and was chosen by Mayor Vince Whibbs as chairman of the City of Pensacola Bicentennial Commission for the Constitution of the United States for the 1987 observance. From 1988 to 1991, Bowden hosted the News Journal monthly television show, "Editorially Speaking," on BLAB-TV. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jesse W. and Earlene R. Bowden. Mr. Bowden is survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary Louise Bowden, Pensacola, FL; sons, Steven Earle Bowden (wife, Pamela House), Clear Lake Shores, TX and Randall Clark Bowden (wife, Shalah), Statesboro, GA; granddaughter, Jessica Johanna Bowden, Pensacola, FL; brother, Franklin Lamar Bowden (wife, Elaine Louise), Tallahassee, FL; nephews, Franklin Lamar Bowden, Jr. and James Marlon Bowden, Tallahassee, FL. Visitation will be held from 5-7pm on Friday, February 20, 2015 at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel, 2276 Airport Blvd., Pensacola. Funeral services will be held at 10am on Saturday, February 21, 2015 at Gadsden Street United Methodist Church, 901 E. Gadsden St., Pensacola with Rev. Bobby Ellisor officiating. Burial will follow at Bayview Memorial Park. Active Pallbearers will be Jerry Eubanks, Andy Marlette, Troy Moon, Rob Overton, Carl Wernicke and Collier Merrill. Honorary Pallbearers are members of the Jim Robinson's Sunday school Class of Gadsden Street United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the J. Earle Bowden History Endowment, established by the UWF Foundation in1982 at The University of West Florida. The Bowden would like to extend a very special thank you to all former and current employees of the Pensacola News Journal Family.