Denise Bowen sits down on the memorial bench for her late husband, Rich Bowen, next to her store, Junque Genius Studio & Marketplace at 504 Oak St., Irwin, on Monday, April 28, 2025. Her left hand is touching the plaque stating "In loving memory of Coach Rich Bowen."
Irwin store owner Denise Bowen got a heartfelt surprise recently, a sign of respect for her, her late husband and family, courtesy of her fellow business owners and friends.
Bowen's friends raised $1,800 for a black-colored memorial bench in honor of her late husband, Rich Bowen, a longtime football coach who died of cancer late October. The black-colored bench next to her Oak Street store, Junque Genius Studio & Marketplace, was unveiled last month.
"I'm overwhelmed. I miss him every day," Bowen said after sitting down on the bench, tearfully touching the plaque that stated the bench was "In Loving Memory of Coach Rich Bowen."
Bowen, of North Huntingdon, said that while her husband would have been honored by the gesture, he was a person who kept a low profile, despite his accomplishments.
"He would be so mad,"with all of the attention, said Bowen, who was kept in the dark about the efforts to buy a bench in memory of her husband. "He would have hated it and loved it."
"All these people are more than friends. They're family," Bowen said of the 40 or so people who gathered for the unveiling of the bench.
Linda Kovach, a volunteer at The Lamp Theatre in Irwin, said the effort to raise money for the bench for Rich Bowen is an indication of the love people have for Denise.
"She is very involved with Irwin and all of the merchants. She chairs the IBPA (Irwin Business and Professional Association) Street Markets (committee). She is loved by all," Kovach said.
One of her employees, Cheryl Hohn, came up with the idea of a memorial bench in honor of Bowen. She coordinated the effort to collect funds to purchase the bench and wanted to time its unveiling around Denise's birthday last month.
"It's a celebration of life," Hohn said.
"This is what Irwin is about," said Ron Palarino, owner of the Gift Basket World & Candy Shop in Irwin and Steel City Car Wash in
"I was shocked to see how many people showed up," said their son, Aaron Bowen.
Aaron Bowen said it was funny, in a sense, that his father, a football player and coach, was being honored with a bench.
"He was a coach and never wanted his kids to sit," Aaron Bowen said.
Bowen had a long and illustrious career as a player and as a coach at several area high schools.
Bowen was a three-sport star athlete at Serra Catholic in McKeesport in the early 1980s, leading the football team to a WPIAL title. He played safety at Pitt and was part of the team that played in the 1982 Cotton Bowl. He later transferred to Youngstown State University, where he played tight end for Jim Tressel, before Tressel took the head coaching job at Ohio State University.
Bowen was the head coach at Hempfield for nine seasons and led Serra Catholic for five, years guiding the Eagles to a WPIAL Class A championship and PIAA runner-up finish in 2007.
He also coached for a handful of years at both Elizabeth Forward and Yough, helping the teams to the WPIAL playoffs. He was an assistant coach for a short time at Waynesburg University.
Bowen was an assistant coach at Norwin, before before joining the staff at Greensburg Salem for the 2023 season.
Bowen pursued a path similar to that of his late father, Dick Bowen, who played at Pitt in the 1950s, and was a coach at Serra Catholic and McKeesport.
Bowen's sons, Sean and Aaron, followed in the footsteps of their father and grandfather. Aaron helps with coaching the Southmoreland football team and Sean is an assistant coach at Cardinal Mooney High School, a football powerhouse in Youngstown, Ohio. Both sons played football at Norwin.
Brittany Bowen, their daughter who works at the store, said she was touched by so many people who wanted to chip in for the bench.
"He made such an impact on so many people," said Brittany Bowen.