KU to add name of WWII soldier to Campanile memorial

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 Memorial Campanile's Virginia Greenstone walls.

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

That unfortunate omission will be rectified soon when Midland Marble and Granite of Independence, Mo., installs a granite panel 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; 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 its 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 has 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 given to her by her grandmother is the small gold “war Bible” Cunningham had given to Bowlby before he went to war. It was designed to fit in a shirt pocket with the thought that, if soldiers carried them over their hearts, the Bibles would protect them from bullets. The inscription on the metal cover reads: “May This Keep You From Harm, To Raleigh from Janie.” It was found with Bowlby and returned to Cunningham 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 University Archive 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, as no official military record was available 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. The 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, he 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. He was an honor student, majoring first in liberal arts, then changing to business.

Bowlby was inducted into the U.S. Army at Fort Joseph T. Robinson, Ark., on Feb. 22, 1941, and was a member of the 137th Infantry’s 35th Division, famous as the Santa Fe Division.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the division was sent to Fort Ord, Calif., and later to San Francisco. It became a unit of the West Coast Defense Command. In July 1942, Bowlby 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 German line at Fondi. Bowlby, a second lieutenant in the anti-tank company, fell in action near Cassino, Italy, April 8, 1944.