Angela "Bowman" Blake

Angela Kay Bowman Blake, known by many as Angie, passed away at her home on December 11, 2025, at the age of 62 years, 5 months, 17 days, after a long battle with cancer. She was born to Forrest Bowman and Aurelia (Smith) Bowman on June 24, 1963, in Potosi, MO.

Angela Kay Bowman was united in marriage to the love of her life, Earnest Keith Blake, on June 17, 1995, at the Methodist Church in Richwoods, MO, by Reverend Harry Gamble. They shared over 30 years.

Angie loved her precious husband wholeheartedly. She loved spending time with him; they hunted together, gardened together, and loved camping together. Time spent with each other meant the world to Angie, even if it was sitting in their lounge chairs watching something on TV, it was still time spent together.

She also loved watching her special granddaughter, Emma DeClue. This little girl meant the world to her grandma, and Angie always wanted to be there for all of Emma's firsts. She kept her at her house throughout the day since she was 4 months old and watched this baby grow into a precious young lady. She fed her bottles and got to witness many of her firsts. As Emma continued to grow, Angie wanted to witness her baby girl in action, so she went to her barrel races, to her basketball games, volleyball games, and on field trips. She took her to doctors' appointments and dentist appointments. Angie always wanted to make sure her grandbaby knew she was loved beyond measure. If Emma wanted a snack after school, Angie would take her up to the gas station or to the Dollar General, and they would get snacks. This little girl meant the world to her granny.

She loved her boy Scott DeClue and his wife Christine so much. Scott was the son she never had, and she loved him/them fiercely. When she’d get mad at Scott, she would say, “little boy, don’t make me spank your butt!” Can’t you just see Angie spanking a 43-year-old? LOL

Angie loved big and always put her loved ones first. Whether they were chosen friends and family or biological family, that didn’t matter to Angie. If you were one of her people, she made sure you knew it. She would call you on the phone, see how your day went, and always try to encourage you. Even if you didn’t like what she had to say, she would say it if she thought it would help.

Angie found joy in the simple things of life. She got into gardening later in life, and she truly found her calling. She would start her plants from seeds inside her house in the winter months, and as they matured, she would move them to her greenhouse and then to her garden. The painstaking hours she would spend growing these plants was crazy. She would wake up in the middle of the night to check the temp in her greenhouse and make sure it wasn’t too cold for her plants. If she wasn’t feeling well in that moment, poor Keith would pick up the slack, but he would step up because he loved her. Keith, Bill, Scott, and Emma always tried to make sure Angie had the best garden because it truly made her happy. She kept logs of how many bushels of product she would get. Once she canned the product, she would take inventory and begin planning what she needed to plant the following season. Gardening and canning were her absolute favorites.

She loved having a small farm where they raised chickens and even goats for a while. She loved hunting with her husband, Keith, and her favorite summer pastime was camping.

Take that girl on a camping trip, and she would load her camper for a week or two before we went. She didn’t know how to swim, but she loved being on the water, especially the Black River, Current River, and Sinking Creeks. So we’d blow up her inner tube, Scott would tie the inner tube to a big boulder, and we would take her out in the middle of the river, and she would float in that tube almost all day long.

She always wanted to see the ocean, and in September of 2024, she got to go to Florida and to the ocean for the first time with Keith, Scott, Christine, and Emma. She was so excited and loved every second of it. She was planning to go to Alaska in 2026.

Angie loved Jesus and attended The Way of Life Tabernacle in Richwoods, MO. When the Lord would come down on her, she would speak in tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance, and sometimes a spirit of Joy would come over her, and she would begin laughing. The Joy of the Lord was truly Angie's strength. God was with her and brought her through so much. She was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2016 and had a double radical mastectomy on December 30, 2016. A few days later, she was transplanting tomatoes. Let me tell you bout my Jesus, self couldn’t have done this, but through Jesus, Angie did. In 2018, she was diagnosed with metastatic thyroid carcinoma and had a thyroid surgery in March of 2018 and again in February of 2019. During one of these surgeries, they called a code blue. A day later, she was back to gardening. This woman was such a fighter and truly believed the scripture I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Angie worked on The Blake Homestead from 2016 until her passing. She was already planning the seeds she wanted to buy for the upcoming season. She was a caregiver for her mom until she died in 2011, and her dad until he died in 2013. Before this, Angie worked as a tester at Coin Acceptors from 1996 to 2006, and at some point, she worked at TTI on the 407484 line. She graduated from Potosi High School in 1982.

Those who remain to mourn Angie are her beloved husband, Keith Blake, special granddaughter Emma DeClue, and the son and daughter she never had, Scott and Christine DeClue, her step-daughters Kelli and husband Johnny Potts, Becki and husband Jared Kirkman, and her step-son Jordan Blake. Three grandchildren: Halie Reese, Cason Reese, and Kynlee Blake. Three great-grandchildren, Wilder, Wynston, and Walter Reese. Her special friend and brother, whom she never had, Bill Mitchell, her best friends, Leta Lute, Glenda Wideman, and Anne, and her chosen family, the DeClues, along with many close friends and family members.

Angie was preceded in death by her mother, Aurelia (Lady) Bowma,n on December 7, 2011, and by her father, Forrest Bowman, on January 27, 2013.