SHAWN  BOWMAN,  28, FATHER, 

CANTOR  FITZGERALD  EMPLOYEE

By Frank Donnelly

Staten Island Advance

 staff writer

Friday, 09/28/2001

Date of Death 9/11/2001

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Shawn Edward Bowman Jr. wasn't an early riser by nature, but each morning he got up before dawn to shower and dress his 16-month-old son, Liam Edward.

The 5 a.m. wake-up call gave the Sunnyside resident precious time with Liam before work and let his wife, Jennifer, sleep a few more minutes. Mrs. Bowman is pregnant with the couple's second child.

Mr. Bowman, 28, a human resources information specialist for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of Tower 1, is among the missing in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

"He was a very devoted father and husband," said his mother-in-law, Jacqueline Davitt. "And as a mother-in-law I could not have asked for anyone to be nicer to my daughter."

A lifelong Staten Islander, Mr. Bowman was a model employee who reported to work an hour early each day. Among his duties, he trained colleagues in the use of special software.

"He wanted to make sure everything he did, he did well," Mrs. Davitt said. As dedicated as he was to his job, which required frequent travel to Europe, Mr. Bowman was even more devoted to his family.

He was little Liam's special playmate. He devoted Saturdays to treks to McDonald's for pancakes and walks in Clove Lakes Park. Weeknights were reserved for romps on the floor.

"His son was everything," Mrs. Davitt said.

The day before the attack, Mr. Bowman left work early to bring Liam to the doctor's office. He and his wife were planning a trip to the Bronx Zoo with Liam to celebrate Mr. Bowman's 29th birthday on Sept. 16.

"He will live through my daughter, but it's a shame his children will never know how wonderful their father was," said Mrs. Davitt. "He will be sorely missed and our lives will never be the same."

Mrs. Bowman is due to give birth in January. The child will be named Jack, after a character in Tom Clancy novels that Mr. Bowman enjoyed reading.

Mr. Bowman was especially fond of mysteries and political accounts and devoured every copy of the New York Times and Barron's newspapers.

He also enjoyed cooking and was an Eagle Scout. He was active with Pouch Camp, Sea View, and with Troop 43 of St. John's Episcopal Church, Rosebank.

Born in New Dorp, Mr. Bowman moved to Arden Heights in 1999. In April, he and his wife moved into his mother-in-law's Sunnyside residence while they awaited construction of a new home in Columbus, N.J.

He was a graduate of Monsignor Farrell High School and the State University of New York at Albany, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration.

Following graduation, Mr. Bowman worked as a human resources information specialist for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in Manhattan. He often traveled to the company's overseas offices to train colleagues in special software use. Mr. Bowman was a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church, Tompkinsville, where he was married on April 17, 1999.

Surviving in addition to his wife, the former Jennifer Davitt, and his son, Liam Edward, are his parents, Carol and Shawn E. Sr.; a brother, James, and his maternal grandmother, Anne Barbieri.

There will be a memorial mass tomorrow at noon in Our Lady of Good Counsel Church. The Rev. Joseph Mostardi, the former pastor, will officiate, wearing vestments Mr. Bowman's family purchased for him.

The Harmon Home for Funerals, West Brighton, is handling the arrangements.

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Shawn Bowman was the grandson of my godfather, Ernest Bowman - so I want to mention him on this September 11 and I ask you to say a prayer for his family.