Donald D. Bowman, known as The Colonel 62, died with honor on 11/25/2015 after a brave fight with merkel cell carcinoma (a rare, aggressive form of skin caner). He passed peacefully with caring family and friends by his side at Gulfside Hospice Center, Zephyrhills. He is survived by his high school sweetheart of 41 years, Michele and 2 loving daughters, Melanie Kelly (David) and Vanessa Bershad (Chris) and 3 grandchildren; Aurora Grace and Scarlett Ava Bershad , Benjamin Donald Kelly and his beloved Shitzu, Toby. Don was the recipient of a life-saving liver transplant in 1998. Although we are saddened by our loss due to cancer, we will be forever to our donor family who gave us 17 blessed years together. Don is a proud graduate of Jesuit High School, class of 1972, He was a journeyman wireman out of IBEW local 915 for 28 years, then worked for Strohs for 2 years. He retired from Yuengling Brewery of Tampa after 17 years as a maintenance electrician in 2014. Don studied many periods of history and was an active confederate reenactor for almost 40 years. He and his horses, Lady and beau, became iconic figures on the reenacting field. As the colonel in the reenacting community, he commanded hundreds of men in many events all over the country. Other interest included NASCAR, Star Trek, fine scale modeling, toy soldier dioramas, college sports, Harry Potter, and all things Reese Witherspoon. A Celebration of Life Mass will be held at St Joseph Catholic Church, 38710 5th Ave, Zephyrhills on Saturday, December 5th at 10 AM, followed by a memorial reception. The family will receive friends at a visitation on Friday, December 4th from 5:30-7:30 PM At Hodges Family Funeral Home, 36327 SR 54 Zephyrhills. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Lifelink Foundation Legacy Fund at www.lifelinkfoundation.org/legacyfund or University of Washington Merkel Cell Carcinoma Fund at www.giving.uw.edu. A Special thanks to Gulfside Hospice for their compassionate care. He may be gone but he will never be forgotten.