CONOR BOWLING
Conor Ronan Bowling entered this world a week late and on the hottest day of the year 20 years ago. He was his parent’s first child, and boy was he loved and adored from the very first breath he took. He was always the kindest little boy who loved matchbox cars, trains, tractors, and trucks, especially his giant Tonka truck that he literally ran the wheels off time and time again. He always had something to say or do that made his mother belly laugh. Conor was a Boy Scout, making it all the way to the rank of Life before he turned 18. He was pure joy and all boy.
As an adult, Conor was still kind, caring, and gentle. He was a good student at Cuesta College and a dependable, hard worker for Enterprise Mobility, washing and transporting their cars. He still loved cars, and now, he was old enough to drive them! He was so honest; you could leave him with a million dollars cash to hold and you would get every single dollar back.
Conor was very close to his family, often coming over for his dad’s steak and mashed potatoes and mom’s coffee cake she would bake just for him. He adored his father, Joe, who raised him from the age of six, and adopted him just over a year ago. He doted on his mother; always showing up to the house with a knick- knack for her kitchen, or a pie from Avila Valley Barn despite her repeated protests. He considered his little sister his confidante, and quietly admired his older sister and her fiancé because they were just so cool.
Towards the end, Conor told us so often that his goal in life was to be a good man and make us proud. Conor fought stoically for eight years against a mental illness that would torment him. He tried so hard for his family, but in the end, he just could not bear it anymore.
Conor will live forever in the hearts of his friends and family and in the bodies of the deserving people to whom he donated organs.
If you would like to help other teens in crisis, please donate to the Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health - San Luis Obispo County Center. Your donation will go to counseling, therapy and family support for teens and families to hopefully prevent another loss of life. Please follow this link to make a cash donation to this worthy cause in Conor’s name.
The Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Tax Id: 93-1943489, and as such, your donation is tax-deductible to the full extent provided by law.
