Person Page 3,655

Samuel H. (Sam) Nowman was born on 9 July 1944 in Kankakee, Kankakee, Illinois.¹ He died on 29 March 2013, at age 68, in Kankakee, Kankakee, Illinois.¹ He was buried in Kankakee Memorial Gardens and Chapel Mausoleum, Kankakee, Kankakee, Illinois.¹

Samuel H. (Sam) Nowman was an Owner/Operator in Nowman Auto Body.² (The Daily Journal April 1, 2013)
Samuel H. "Sam" Nowman, 68, of Bradley, died Friday (March 29, 2013) at Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. Wednesday until the 1 p.m. funeral service at the Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home, Bourbonnais. The Rev. Lance Hurley will officiate. Burial will be in Kankakee Memorial Gardens, Aroma Township. Memorials may be made to Rush-Riverside Cancer Institute. Mr. Nowman was the owner/operator of Nowman Auto Body in Kankakee for many years. He also worked at the Kmart Distribution Center. He was born July 9, 1944, in Kankakee, the son of Samuel W. and Vera Brassert Nowman. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving during the Vietnam War. He loved his family and grandchildren. He enjoyed woodworking and drag racing. Surviving are his wife, the former Judith A. Sovinski, of Bradley, whom he married Feb. 10, 1990, in Bradley; one son and daughter-in-law, Samuel W. and Claudia Nowman, of Roy, Utah; two stepsons and one stepdaughter-in-law, Lonnie and Penny Knotts, of Manteno, and Phil Knotts, of Bradley; one stepdaughter, Brenda and Mark White, of Chebanse; five grandchildren, Jessica Nowman, Brandon Frey, Sascha Kaster, Dylan Knotts and Ian Knotts; his parents, of Bourbonnais; brothers and sisters, Ace and Laura Nowman, of Florida, Tad and Marianne Nowman, of Bloomington, Eddie and Mona Nowman, of Bradley, Chuck Nowman, of Lincoln, Sandra Smith, and Jane and Terry Odette, both of Bradley, Donna and Terry Ford, of Florida, Maryanne and Buck Moreland, of Bradley, Lodene Mitchell, of Kentucky, Dorothy Nevergall and Cindy Laxton, both of Arkansas; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by three brothers, Chester, Johnny and Michael Nowman. Please sign his guestbook at clancygernon.com.

John Ralph Nowman was born on 8 October 1946.¹ He died on 24 January 1965, at age 18, in Kankakee, Kankakee, Illinois.¹ He was buried in Mound Grove Cemetery (Section 23.5 A-1), Kankakee, Kankakee, Illlinois.¹

John Ralph Nowman was an Employee in Cooley Brothers Body Shop.² (Kankakee Daily Journal January 25, 1965 pages 1 and 6)
John R. Nowman
Kankakee County's traffic fatality total for 1965 zoomed to five over the weekend as to accidents took three lives, two of them early Sunday morning on the Waldron Road. Killed in a one-car crash at 3 a.m. on the Waldron Road bridge which passes over Interstate 57 were two 18 year-old Bradleyans, John R. Nowman, 133 N. Randolph Ave., and Richard Bechard, 352 N. LaSalle Ave. Saturday Afternoon, Royal Rocca, 22, 560 S. Poplar Ave., was killed in a car-truck wreck at Routes 45-52 and the Manteno-Deselm Road, north of Bourbonnais. No authoritative estimate was made of the speed at the time of the Sunday morning tragedy for driver Bowman and passenger Bechard. Officers said the 1958 car in which they were traveling was ripped in half indicating an extremely fast speed. Sheriff's Deputies William Dobberpuhl and Stuart Shepherd reported that the boys were enroute south when the car hit a guard rail, climbed it and rode the rail for approximately 75 feet. The deputies said the car then apparently hit the concrete bridge railing sideways, cutting through the frame. The rear end of the car stayed on the overpass and continued on for about 30 feet south. The front end of the vehicle plunged to I-57. parts of the wreckage was later found scattered as far as 500 feet from the original impact. Bechard was thrown from the car but Nowman, wearing a seat belt, was found pinned inside the half of the vehicle which remained up on Waldron Road. The Kankakee Fire Department emergency squad rushed Bechard to the hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival. Dr. James Turner, Kankakee County coroner's pathologist, performed an autopsy on Nowman's body and reported that the boy died of head and chest injuries. Last year, which was a near record year for highway deaths in this county, he fifth fatality was not recorded until March 12. By the end of the year 35 persons had perished in county traffic accidents. Surviving the Nowman youth are the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Nowman) brothers, Sam Jr., Edward, Ace, Ted, Mike, and Charles, all at home; sisters, Lodene, Dorothy, Sandra, Bernice, Cindy, Donna, and Mary Ann, all at home; paternal grandmother, Mrs. Edward Neff of Kankakee and maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ekmer Beassard of Wilmimgton. Born Oct. 30, 146, Nowman was an employee of the Cooley Brothers Body Shop, Bradley. Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Rehr-Kaiser Funeral Home with the Rev. Phil Holp, pastor of the Bradley Memorial Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Mound Grove Cemetery. Visitation continues after 3 p.m. today.

Gerald Wayne Brassard was born on 23 July 1934 in Kankakee, Kankakee, Illinois.¹ He and Wilma Jean Armstrong were married on 18 May 1957.¹ He died on 29 November 1980, at age 46.¹ He was buried in Braceville-Gardner Cemetery, Braceville, Grundy, Illinois.¹

Wilma Jean Armstrong was born on 27 November 1938. She and Gerald Wayne Brassard were married on 18 May 1957.¹ She died on 13 May 1992, at age 53.