KU to add name of Marion WWII soldier to memorial roll of honor on Campanile

LAWRENCE -- For the first time in more than 50 years, the name of a University of Kansas student killed in World War II will be added to the dozens of names etched in the bell tower's Virginia greenstone walls.

Second Lt. Raleigh Chase Bowlby Jr. of Marion, one semester shy of graduation from KU when he enlisted in the Army, was killed in action near Cassino, Italy, April 8, 1944. Seven years later, when the 120-foot campanile was built as a memorial to the KU students and faculty lost in the war, Bowlby's name was not among the 276 names listed.

That unfortunate omission will be rectified soon when Midland Marble and Granite of Independence, Mo., will install granite bearing Bowlby's name. Midland is volunteering its services in honor of Bowlby.
The omission was first noticed in the 1960s but not reported to the university until this summer.

Bowlby's widow, Mary Jane Cunningham of Caldwell, had remarried and her second husband, the late Leonard Cunningham, and their daughter Kathy Booth would visit campus to attend KU football games. Memorial Stadium is located directly below the campanile.

" It was puzzling to us but we never saw it as an oversight," said Booth, now a Sterling resident. "We thought perhaps he didn't meet the criteria."

But Booth decided to find out this summer after she and her husband visited the new World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., and found that Bowlby's name was listed on the memorial's Web site. When KU verified that Bowlby indeed qualified, it immediately began making plans to add his name to the campanile.

" We merely inquired to see if he could be listed in the archives," Booth said. "We didn't anticipate this."

The family had kept Bowlby's memory alive throughout the years.

" Grandma did a good job to make sure we all understood the stories about Raleigh," said Cunningham's granddaughter Marsha Parr, a Blue Valley teacher. "I was always really proud of him, even though I had never met him."

One of Parr's most treasured keepsakes from her grandmother is the small gold "war Bible" Cunningham had given to Bowlby before he went to war. The pocket-sized Bible was designed to fit in a shirt pocket with the thought that if a soldiers carried one over his heart, it would protect him from bullets. The incription on the metal cover reads: "May This Keep You from Harm, to Raleigh from Janie." It was found with Bowlby and returned to Cunningham back in Kansas.

Having Bowlby's name on the campanile will help the family keep his memory alive, Parr said. "It means a great deal just because our family has such a great love for KU and a strong appreciation for veterans. It gives us a more tangible way to pass down the story."

According to the University Archives records, the original list of 276 names was compiled over several years by a Kansas Alumni Association committee that relied heavily on reports from family members and friends because there was no official record available from the military linking soldiers to their colleges. Booth said her mother was living in California at the time and never heard of KU's effort.
The list of names on the campanile walls is available online at www.carillon.ku.edu.

The campanile, which contains a 53-bell carillon, was built in 1950 and dedicated on May 27, 1951. Names are engraved on the east and west walls of the Memorial Room at the base of the tower.

BIOGRAPHY: Raleigh Chase Bowlby Jr.

Raleigh Chase Bowlby Jr. was born May 3, 1918, in Marion. The only child of Raleigh Chase and Marie Wight Bowlby, Raleigh grew up in Marion, where his parents were in the men’s clothing business.

Raleigh graduated from Marion High School with the class of 1936 and attended the University of Kansas for seven semesters where he was an honor student, majoring first in liberal arts and later changing to a business major.

Bowlby was inducted into the Army at Fort Joseph T. Robinson, Ark., on Feb. 22, 1941, and became a member of the 137th Infantry of 35th Division, famous as the old Santa Fe Division.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 35th Division was sent to Fort Ord, Calif., and later to San Francisco. The division became a unit of the West Coast Defense Command. In July 1942, Raleigh was sent to the Officer Candidate School of the Infantry at Fort Benning, Ga., and upon receiving his commission was assigned to the 88th Division.

Bowlby married Mary Jane Shahan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Winfield F. Shahan of Anthony, formerly of Marion, on Oct. 31, 1943, in the chapel at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Raleigh and Mary Jane were high school sweethearts.

The 88th Division was sent to North Africa and from there to the Italian front. The 88th was the first all-selective service division to go into front line combat and is credited with breaking the Hitler line at Fondi. Raleigh was in the anti-tank company. Bowlby fell in action near Cassino, Italy, April 8, 1944.