“Do it once, do it well” and “near enough is not good enough”.

“One of Dad’s favourite sayings was that we should leave foot-prints in life so that we may leave a better future for others,” Andrew said.

Mr Bowcher died on New Year’s Day after a long battle with prostate cancer, aged 70 years old.

Andrew said his father was driven to succeed and as a young man, sought a position at a Wagga firm called Remington Rand.

Known locally as just Remington, they sold copiers, type-writers and cash registers.

The job opening called for a 21-year-old but Mr Bowcher was only 20, so he sent in a resume with a false age and got the job in 1966. It was only after building a significant client base did he reveal his actual age.

“He said it was one of the best learning and training experiences he had ever had,” Andrew said.

Mr Bowcher married his wife, Doris, in 1968 in Temora.

He later took a big risk at the age of 27 to start his own business, Wagga Business Machines, in 1972.

Just a year later, Mr Bowcher came home from work saying the receptionist had left. Doris Bowcher offered to fill in until a replacement was found, expected at Christmas. 

Mr Bowcher didn’t specify which year though; they worked together for 28 years.

Wagga Business Machines grew into one of the most successful firms of its type and expanded into computers, a Griffith office and more before the Bowchers sold it in 2002.

Far from being just a successful businessman, Mr Bowcher was heavily involved in the community through St Paul’s Anglican Church, Wagga Gliding Club, South Wagga Apex and Rotary as well as prostate cancer support groups. 

As a founding member of the Wagga Prostate Cancer Support group, Mr Bowcher provided support to others diagnosed with the disease and several people said his advice had made a difference for them in their own battles.

Mr Bowcher became one of the region’s fiercest health campaigners, pushing for biopsies for public health patients and a support nurse. As always, he succeeded.