Salem selects Citizens of Honor

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Staff report

SALEM

The Salem Historical Society has named Katherine Gibson and George Bowman Jr. as its 2014 Salem Citizens of Honor.

They will be officially recognized at the Founders Day dinner April 29 at Salem Community Center, 1098 N. Ellsworth Ave.

Two citizens of honor are added each year during Founders Day activities.

Gibson was born in Salem Feb. 8, 1911. She graduated from Mount Vernon Seminary in Washington, D.C., and earned a degree in fine arts from Yale University. She felt a need to help enrich the community.

Among her relatives is a niece, Susan Gibson Schiller, a longtime historical society volunteer.

Gibson was known around town because she was involved with so many organizations, most of which are still extant. Her roles and the organizations include Salem Community Hospital board member, founder of the Hannah Mullins School of Nursing, Salem Visiting Nurses Association president, AID founder and past president, Salem YWCA charter member and Salem Humane Society.

She died in 2000 and is buried at Grandview Cemetery.

Bowman was born in Cleveland in 1908. He graduated from Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and from Yale. He moved to Salem in 1931 after graduation.

He attended Western Reserve Law School, became a fourth-generation attorney and practiced until his retirement in 1992.

In 1966 he and seven of his colleagues donated start-up funds for the Salem Community Foundation. He served as president from 1966 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1991.

Other accomplishments include Salem City Council, Salem Civil Defense Director, Salem Civil Service Commission, Salem Historical Society president in 1956 and president of the Columbiana County Bar Association.

Bowman also died in 2000 and was buried at Grandview Cemetery.