Mark Kent Bowman, 41, of Sioux Falls, S.D., formerly of Sioux City, died Monday, July 14, 2003, at Sioux Valley Hospital Hospice Cottage following a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Services will be 2 p.m. Friday at Sunnycrest United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls. Burial will be in Hills of Rest Memorial Park. Visitation will be after noon Thursday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at Miller Funeral Home Valley View Chapel in Sioux Falls.

Mark was born to Lorna Bowman on March 26, 1962, in Sioux City. He graduated from North High School in 1980 and from Morningside College in 1984. He taught school in Herreid, S.D. He earned his master's degree from the University of Iowa in 1988. From 1988 to 1998, he was employed at North Dakota State Library in Bismark, N.D.

He was united in marriage to Barbra Jill Zenor on June 7, 1991, at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Sioux City.

He will be remembered for his strong faith life, his amazing sense of humor, his quiet strength and the deep commitment and love he felt for his family and friends. He will be dearly missed and yet live on to all those who knew and loved him.

Grateful to have shared his life are his wife, Barbra; two daughters, Abigail, 9, and Olivia, 9 months, all at home in Sioux Falls; a brother and his wife, Joel Scott and Beth Bowman of Sioux City; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Donald and Ramonde Zenor of Lawton, Iowa; two brothers-in-law and their wives, Martin and Martha Zenor of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Michael and Kim Zenor of Deerfield, Ill.; five nieces and nephews; his Sunnycrest family; and numerous other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents and mother.