Thomas F. Bowes Jr., Lawyer Who Wrote Of Farm Adventure, 79

[DGH]

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Thomas Francis Bowes Jr., a calm, no-nonsense lawyer who wrote poetry
about hypnotizing chickens and other adventures on his family's farm in
Plympton, died March 25, 2005, in his home in Carver, Massachusetts, at
the age of 79.

In his early years, Mr. Bowes spent many summer months at his
grandfather's farm, where he learned how to raise steer, drive a
tractor around the farm, and hypnotize chickens.

When his grandfather came across dozens of chickens lying perfectly
still on their sides one day, he assumed the worst. But Mr. Bowes had
merely put them in a trance by drawing a line in the dirt in a certain
way.

The story became legendary in the family.

In a collection of poetry published in 1996 titled "Images Past," Mr.
Bowes recalled the prank with glee.

He wrote:

"My cousin and I as little boys

Were involved in not a few jokes.

We didn't have the usual toys

So we occasionally pranked our folks.

One day we learned of a silly trick

That might get us a lickin'

A simple, harmless act we'd pick

To hypnotize a chicken."

Mr. Bowes attended the College of the Holy Cross, where he earned a
bachelor's degree. He served as a pilot in the Navy in the mid-1940s,
flying missions in the Pacific during World War II. At various military
functions overseas, Mr. Bowes sang with military bands made up of
several big-band era greats, such as members of Sammy Kaye's band and
Alvino Ray.

On his trip home, he survived a plane crash on a flight from Florida to
the Northeast.

When he returned to the Bay State, Mr. Bowes was offered a recording
contract by a local company. He turned it down, opting to earn a law
degree from Suffolk University Law School.

Mr. Bowes passed the bar exam in 1951, married Alice Elizabeth Haley a
year later, and moved to Plympton, Massaschusetts, shortly thereafter.

Setting up his law practice in a two-room office on Main Street, Mr.
Bowes started out as one of the only lawyers in the small farming
community, with a population at the time of a few hundred residents.
Helping to negotiate land disputes and all the issues that surfaced in
the rural town, Mr. Bowes had a knack for infusing calm into a stormy
situation.

"If I was panicking over something, or I got in trouble, I would talk
with him," said his son, Thomas III of North Plainfield, New Jersey.
"And just by talking with him, you'd walk away saying, 'This isn't so
bad after all.'"

Although he was happy to take part in almost any legal matter, from
preparing wills to civil and criminal cases, Mr. Bowes particularly
looked forward to the challenge of cases where it seemed like the deck
was stacked against him.

"I think he kind of enjoyed the David-and-Goliath-type cases, where he
was David," his son said.

In the mid-1960s Mr. Bowes became Plympton's town counsel. He was also
Town Meeting moderator, keeping debates and discussion from straying
too far from the issues at hand.

"My father was very polite, he was very nice, but he was also an
ex-Navy man and he wouldn't take any nonsense," his son said.

On the home front, Mr. Bowes "was a jeans, hat, and plaid shirt kind of
guy," his son said.

Clients would often drop by on the weekends to consult with him, as he
welcomed business at any hour.

Mr. Bowes published a second book of poetry in the 1990s, "Flickering
Shadows of Time."

In 2001, he retired from his law practice and, along with his wife and
secretary, converted the law office to an antiques store, called Trove
at 274, where they sold heirlooms and items they collected on trips to
Maine and Canada.

His wife died in 2002, and last year, he sold his farm in Plympton and
moved to Carver.

In addition to his son, Mr. Bowes leaves a brother, Robert of Lynn; two
sisters, Patricia Raynes of Palm Harbor, Florida, and Elinor Morency of
Williston, Vermont; and two grandchildren.

Boston Globe