University of Arizona - The Desert Yearbook

“Dedication Bill Bowers 1 903-2003 THE DESERT YEARBOOK STAFF is proud to dedicate this year ' s book to Bill Bowers, a 1927 graduate o f the UA. Bowers, who died in late 2003 at age 100, established himself as a living legend on campus. From working as photography editor on the 1926 Desert Yearbook, to salvaging the bell from the USS Arizona battleship, which now hangs in the Student Union Memorial Center bell tower, Bowers has inspired a new generation of students to take pride in the UA. Bowers came across the bell accidentally while working as an army captain at a Washington Naval Yard in 1944. The bell, which was one of two bells salvaged from the USS Arizona battleship that sank in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, was sitting in a crate ready to be melted for raw material. After calling the governor of Arizona and the president of the UA, the bell was delivered to the university in 1946. Bowers had an open invitation at the UA to ring the bell, and he participated in a memorial to commemorate UA alums killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He rang the bell for the last time in February 2003, during the grand opening of the Student Union Memorial Center. After spending 20 years in the military as an army captain, Bowers went on to run a photo gallery with his brother-in-law in Colorado Springs, Colo. He also worked as a photographer for Hewlett-Packard. The yearbook staff honors his devotion to the UA with great fondness. Dedication The life of a legend . ”