Jesuit Father Theodore B. Bowling died Nov. 22 at the De Nobili Jesuit Community in Patna Province, India. He was 97 and had been a priest for 66 years.
Father Bowling, a native of Louisville, attended St. Francis of Assisi School and St. Xavier High School. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1941 and spent four years in the Jesuit novitiate and juniorate in Milford, Ohio. He studied philosophy at the old West Baden College in West Baden, Ind., and earned a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Detroit in 1951.
Father Bowling traveled to India in 1951 to serve with the Jesuits’ mission. There he earned a master’s degree in divinity at De Nobili College, a seminary in Pune. He was ordained on March 24, 1955, in Pune.
Father Bowling served as a professor at De Nobili College. He also served as president of the Association of Catholic Enquiry Centre and the Institute for Home Study, a correspondence course on the life and teachings of Jesus.
Father Bowling was inducted into the St. Xavier High School Alumni Hall of Honors in 2019. In 2021 he was honored by the Jesuit community in Pune for 80 years of service as a Jesuit.
Father Bowling is survived by his brother Joseph S. Bowling Jr., nieces and nephews, including Father William Bowling, a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, and members of the Jesuit community.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated in the De Nobili College Chapel on Nov. 23. A memorial Mass will be celebrated for his family and friends at a later date.
Respectful farewell to Fr Ted Bowling. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let your perpetual light shine upon the departed soul.