Cleo Elnora Smith was born October 21, 1925 in Vermillion, SD to parents Wilburt and Audrey (Landers) Smith. She died September 17, 2016 at the Alcester Care Center at the age of 90 years, 10 Months and 26 Days.

Cleo attended Otter Creek High School in Terra Haute, Indiana and eventually moved to Sioux City, IA. She met Bill Bowers and married him two weeks later on January 3, 1947. The couple resided in Alcester, SD where Cleo worked for over 30 years at Cenex as their bookkeeper. Bill passed away on January 1, 1989 and Cleo continued to reside here, living at the Alcester Care and Rehab Center for the past 4 and ½ years. Cleo was a member of Nathanael Lutheran Church. She was an avid golfer and loved fishing. She will be dearly missed by her family and all her friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bill, parents, 2 brothers in infancy, her sisters and their husbands Alice and Duffy Bjork and Margie and Melvin Burrell, and a special niece Audrey Morse.

She is survived by 3 children, Mary Erickson and husband Jerome, Alcester, Wilburt Bowers and wife Carolyn, Brandon, SD and Barbara Bowers, Castle Rock, CO; 7 grandchildren, Shari (Garn) Henley, Angie (Mike) Wolpensinger, Stephanie Blake (Sam Firenze), Zach (Booke) Blake, Brant (Becky) Bowers, Neil Bowers, and Stacy Pitsch; 12 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren; and many relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 AM, Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at Nathanael Lutheran Church, Alcester, SD. Visitation with family present will be Tuesday from 5PM to 7PM at Wass Funeral Home in Alcester.