Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993                   TAG: 9310210176
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By Melissa DeVaughn
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

TREE PLANTED IN MEMORY OF TEACHER

The pupils aren't ready to take it down just yet, says principal Janice Roback.

Since Bowles' death in a car accident Sept. 30, the pupils have had a lot of adjusting to do, and Wednesday's memorial service held at the school was part of that healing process.

"We will remember [Bowles], but this service is almost like closure, and that's what children need," Roback said.

School administrators, friends, colleagues and more than 350 grade schoolers gathered around a freshly-planted Bradford pear tree at the side of the school and paid tribute to Bowles, who was in her third year of teaching at Christiansburg Elementary when the accident occurred.

After Bowles' pupils took turns saying a few words about their teacher, they gave the Bowles family some books and letters describing their feelings' toward their teacher. Then Roback read from "The Giving Tree," a book about a tree that gives its life so others may live.

"Most of us are still sad, but we feel like good things will come of it," said Bowles' friend and colleague, Jeannie Bain.

Bain described Bowles as a "quiet and organized" teacher who was a "gentle and very thoughtful person." She belonged to a teacher's sewing group and was known to have a great sense of humor.

"She shared her work and ideas and we helped each other out," Bain said. "I will miss her."

Bowles was married and has two teenagers who attend Blacksburg High School. Her husband, Mike; son, Jason; and daughter, Susan were at Wednesday's memorial.

"It was a good ceremony," Mike Bowles said, "and the choice of reading `The Giving Tree' was good, too."

Before the Oct. 3 funeral, the Bowles family asked that money be donated to Christiansburg Elementary in lieu of flowers. The school has since set up an Emily Bowles Memorial Fund that will go toward a project in her memory.