Donald Bowman

Not to be confused with Don Bowman.

Donald Bowman
Donald Ray Bowman's 1976 High School Yearbook Photo.png Donald Ray Bowman's 1976 High School Yearbook Photo.png Bowman in 1976
Born	Donald Ray Bowman August 15, 1959 Hamilton, Ohio, US
💀Died	November 4, 2023 Hamilton, Ohio, USNovember 4, 2023
Other names	Big Don
💼 Occupation	Machinist
Known for	Father of Vice President JD Vance
👩 Spouse(s)	Beverly Vance (m. 1983, divorced) Cheryl McCarty (m. 1988)
👶 Children	5, including JD and Cory
👪 Relatives	Vance family

Donald Ray Bowman (August 15, 1959 – November 4, 2023) was an American machinist who was the father of the 50th vice president of the United States, JD Vance.

Bowman was born in 1959 and married Beverly Vance in 1983. The two had one child together, future vice president of the United States, JD Vance. Bowman had a rough relationship with his son and they did not speak from when JD was six to his teenage years, when they reconnected. Bowman married his second wife in 1988 and remained married. Their children included one son, Cory Bowman, who ran for mayor of Cincinnati in 2025. Bowman died in 2023 at the age of 64, one year before his son was elected Vice President.

Early life and career

Bowman was born on August 15, 1959 to Donald C. Bowman and Melva Shepherd (née Baker). His father died when he was 16 months old, and his mother remarried Joseph Shepherd, who raised him.

Bowman graduated from Edgewood High School in 1979. He then worked as a machinist for over 13 years. The company he worked for was Hamilton Tool. After the company closed he then became self-employed and ran a construction business. He did this for 30 years and the name of the business was Bowman Construction & Excavating. He then moved to Florida and in 2006 he obtained his Residential Contractor’s license. He built custom homes for the next three years in Auburndale, Florida. He then returned to Ohio in 2008 and retired.

Religion

Bowman was a member of River Church Cincinnati during his life. His obituary reads, "He loved to pray, study the Word, worship and to be in the presence of God. He was a spiritual father and mentor to many, encouraging and praying for others, always looking for someone that he could help in any way."

Marriages and family

See also: Family of JD Vance

Marriages

Some of Beverly Vance's family in 2025, including Bowman's son JD and his family

Bowman married Beverly Vance in 1983 when he was 24 years old; he then became a stepfather to Lindsey Vance whom Vance had in her previous marriage which lasted a year. The following year the couple had a son James Donald Bowman. The pair divorced when James was a toddler. Bowman and his wife Beverly had a custody battle over their son and then he gave his son up for adoption and Beverly had custody. He then did not speak to his son until his teenage years and his son's last name changed a lot because Beverly got married an additional three more times. His son later took "James David Vance" as his full name.

Bowman married Cheryl McCarty in 1988. The couple had several children including Cory Bowman, who ran in the 2025 Cincinnati mayoral election. The couple remained married until Bowman's death in 2023, a marriage of over 35 years.

Relationship with JD Vance

JD Vance

Bowman has had a very complex relationship with his son. JD had talked about never really having a stable father figure, with his mother's repeated marriages and divorces.

JD's memoir includes how his dad gave him up for adoption when he was 6 years old, then disappeared for the next 6 years. JD also wrote about having a few memories of Bowman: he loved Kentucky and its beautiful mountains, and the rolling green horse country. He also knew Bowman drank RC Cola and that he had a very clear Southern accent.

He drank, but he stopped after he converted to Pentecostal Christianity. I always felt loved when I spent time with him, which was why I found it so shocking that he 'didn't want me anymore,' as Mom and Mamaw told me. He had a new wife with two small children, and I'd been replaced."

Bowman and his son re-united years later and gained a closer relationship with time. On June 26, 2021, on the social media network X, JD posted a picture of him and his dad at a political event with the caption, "Hanging with my dad at the Trump rally!"

Death and funeral

Bowman died on November 4, 2023, at the age of 64 years old. His health had been declining for some time prior to his death. Bowman is buried at the Warrens Chapel Cemetery in Vincent, Kentucky. JD Vance and all his family were in attendance at his funeral service.

Legacy and image

Main article: Hillbilly Elegy

In 2016, JD Vance published his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, in which he portrays his father as an absent man who gave up his 6-year-old son and parental rights. Vance shares how he felt a sense of abandonment, and describes how he had to frequently mold his own personality with no real father figure, with his mom repeatedly having new husbands and boyfriends. JD had spent years believing his father simply walked out on him with no care for him.

Years after the book was written, Bowman sat down with his son and gave his perspective. Bowman explained that the adoption was not about abandonment but it was a last resort to step back during an intense custody battle that was destroying Vance. After hearing this, the emotional wound between Bowman and his son could heal.

See also

• Usha Vance (daughter-in-law)

External links

• Media related to Donald Ray Bowman at Wikimedia Commons

This article "Donald Bowman" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Donald Bowman. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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