This week, we mourn the loss of one of our strongest and most committed leaders, Denise “Neec” Bowyer. Neec served faithfully on both the IPL Board and played a key role in several OTOC Action Teams, including Fundraising, Immigration, Paid Sick Leave, and Respect for Nebraska Voters.

Neec brought both discipline and heart to this work. She raised tens of thousands of dollars to sustain OTOC’s mission, but more importantly, she invested deeply in people. She believed in the power of organizing to shape leaders into effective public people, and she pushed all of us to live more fully into that calling. Whether in the boardroom, at an action, or in one-on-one conversations, Neec showed up with clarity, conviction, and a deep commitment to justice.

We are better because of Neec’s leadership, and her legacy lives on in the leaders and victories she helped build.

When I met Neec about four years ago, I knew almost immediately that I was in the presence of someone remarkable. Her energy and drive were unmatched, and more than once she nudged me well past my comfort zone for the sake of something bigger than myself. She had a way of doing that.

Neec was an organizer in every sense of the word. If she could imagine something, she believed it could be done, and more importantly, she knew how to bring the right people along to do it with her. She understood relational power better than most. When she asked something of you, it never felt like a burden, because you knew she would be right there beside you when your turn came.

She was also one of the most generous people I have ever known. I will never forget the night she took me and my daughter to the circus, where somehow the three of us ended up riding camels...in Iowa. That was Neec. She did not just make things happen, she made them memorable. She made them joyful. She made a little bit of magic out of ordinary days.

And while technology was absolutely not her gift, people were. She was a wizard with them. I have often thought Nike must have stolen “just do it” from her, because Neec had a way of moving forward, whether she felt ready or not, and bringing the rest of us along with her.

And she did everything. Truly. For the past few years, I've had to dig for photos that DIDN'T have Neec in them for OTOC’s end of year report. She showed up over and over again with determination, heart, and a deep belief in what we could build together.

She knew how to push, how to grind, how to inspire, and how to make you believe you could do more than you thought possible. She will always be one of my heroines.

We will carry her with us in this work and in one another. May she rest in power.

~ Sarah Keeney, Lead Organizer, OTOC

 “For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” - Amanda Gorman

Neec Bowyer was brave enough to not only see the light, but to be the light. A light working to stand on behalf of worker’s and workers rights across the country. A light who spoke truth to power with a voice that never quivered. A light that lit a path of love, support, and solidarity for our immigrant neighbors. A light that shined on those whose voices and experiences are often relegated to the dark. A light that brightened the lives of all those lucky enough to work with her, stand with her, know her, and have the opportunity to be in the same room as her. Our community is a kinder and more just place because of Neec. Her light will continue to shine each time an immigrant neighbor is welcomed into our community, a worker experiences a workplace grounded in equality, justice, and safety, and each time a person stands up to speak truth to power.

~ Sara Peterson, FUMC

Last year, the United Methodist Council of Bishops sent out a “call to action” for all UM churches to provide “concrete support” to immigrants being threatened with mass detention and deportation. Denise “Neec” Bower took that call to heart and decided our church First United Methodist needed to raise money to support immigrants living in fear. The money would be used to pay for legal counsel, application fees, rent and food, whatever immigrants needed to get them through this dark time.

Neec and others in FUMC’s Salt and Light group had the brilliant idea of going to our church Foundation to ask for a Ministry grant that would provide the seed money to get our “Love Thy Neighbor” campaign off the ground.

I’ve never liked asking people for money. If you know Neec, you know she never had a problem with that! But since I was the Chair of FUMC’s Immigration and Refugee Action Team, she thought it was appropriate for me to chair the campaign. So, I became the official chair, but let it be clear, Neec Bowyer was the driving force behind the campaign. Thanks to her stubborn tenacity, we more than doubled our goal! While I’m still not comfortable asking people for money, Neec taught me some important lessons:

  • Look at fundraising as an investment, not a donation. In this case, we were investing in the lives of people being threatened by an unjust system.
  • Identify people who have money to invest and are willing to support the cause.
  • The most important lesson I learned from Neec: Engage in difficult conversations that create unexpected possibilities!

Neec took me into some uncomfortable situations asking for money. We ran into roadblocks. Sometimes people said no because they thought we were asking for too much. I would be ready to walk away saying, “Ok, thanks anyway!” But Denise would just sit there and look at them, until they would say, “Ok, maybe we can’t afford to give that much, but we can give this much. And you can use this money as a matching grant to inspire others to give too.” It worked! All of a sudden $50,000 turned into $75,000, and then $100,000, and finally $120,000! It was all because of Neec Bowyer and her refusal to say no when a just cause was at stake! I will miss you Neec and am forever grateful.

~ Carol McClellan, FUMC

 In reflecting upon Neec's life and her mental struggles, we are reminded of the contradictions of humans nature. We cannot truly know a person's inner thoughts, but one wonders if... While laughing in happy moments, did she also feel an underlying tinge of sadness? When exhibiting her powerful commitment to give aid to those less fortunate, did she worry that her actions were too weak or incomplete? When loving Dawn to the fullest, was she concerned that she still wasn't enough? Even with uncertainty and doubt, Neec's self-described "shadowy veil" didn't hold her back. She provided support, love, and understanding to others, not only in spite of, but maybe because of, the private war she fought to be the best person she could be. And yes, Neec won that battle. She most definitely was... the very best. May God bless your soul Neec Bowyer. We are so glad to have known you.

~ Sally Nimmo

Although her absence brings deep sadness, her impact remains alive in me. In the way I continue forward, in the way I support others, and in the strength I find myself - You are here. What I will always carry with me is her spirit - the quiet strength, the generosity of heart, and the way she showed up without hesitation. She didn't just offer support, She gave it with love and sincerity. I Placed your phono with your beautiful smile on the side of my monitor - as a reminder to myself of the power we can wield when the heart speaks, to change the life of our communities day by day. You will be my inspiration forever.
~ Perla Ochoa, Heartland Workers Center
Neec was always positive, ready to help and to serve on behalf of justice and the common good.
~Don Bredthauer, FUMC
Neec came to OTOC as one familiar with organizing.  Unlike most OTOC leaders, Neec had experience with unions.  She reached out to connect with unions over common issues, such as policies regarding immigrants.  Union participation increased OTOC’s credibility in the wider community.  Neec brought the larger work world closer to me and others.  Oh she will be missed.
~ Jeanne Schuler, Sacred Heart

The world is very lucky Neec was a hero. She would have been a unstoppable villain.

~ Mark Hoeger, Augustana Lutheran

I am thankful to have met her, to be inspired by her life of action and her commitment to social justice. Even in the short time that our paths crossed, she made a significant impact by facilitating the connection that funded an immigration support group through AM Counseling. I know for many of you, her impact was even greater and much deeper. It is a great thing to leave the world better than you found it and she certainly did that.

~ Makenzie Schmitt, AM Counseling

Although I can’t remember the first time I was around Neec, I do remember that she cast a certain spell that caused me and others to stand at attention. We heard rumblings of someone from Washington, D.C. who had come home and immediately began working here in Omaha for the same causes that she worked on her whole life. Although Neec commanded a giant space as she wove her way throughout several organizations locally and became a leader I greatly admired. She was often the worker who supported other leaders and set an example to the rest of us to contribute. She was everywhere, always sending a message of hope and urging us on.  Easter nears and Neec’s life is light over darkness.

~ Dee Ebel, Sacred Heart

Neec, Sunflowers have a new meaning now.

The light you carried didn’t just leave, it scattered, landing softly in all of us who are still here, still trying to make sense of the dark you left behind.

We are at a loss not because you didn’t give us enough, but because you gave us everything. To strangers. To the cause. To the belief that we are stronger when we stand side by side and refuse to let each other fall.

Your faith in God was not something you spoke about it was something you lived. In the way you showed up. In the way you fought for people who had no one else. In the way you carried light like it was your responsibility to make sure no one else felt alone.

Sunflowers don’t chase the sun they remember it. Even before dawn lifts its heavy eyelids, they are already turning, as if faith were a direction the body could hold.

Their yellow is not loud it is a quiet kind of courage, the kind that grows in open fields with no one watching.

They stand tall not because they’ve never bent, but because they’ve learned how to bow at night without breaking their promise to morning.

And when the light finally arrives, they do not reach in desperation they receive it, like something they’ve always known they were worthy of.

That’s what you were not the loudest in the field, but the one who made everything else feel possible. Spring flowers, roses, trees we all leaned a little closer to you without even realizing it.

And now there is an ache a sky that feels too wide, a silence that wasn’t there before. But when there is no sun, sunflowers turn to each other.

So we will turn toward the stranger, toward the work, toward each other.

We will carry your faith forward. We will fight the way you taught us to fight—together. We will give, even when it’s hard. We will stay, even in the dark.

And somehow, in that turning, in that reaching for one another, your light will not be lost. It will live, here, in us, still growing toward the morning.

~ Maria Torres, The Community Project

https://obituaries.roedermortuary.com/denise-neec-bowyer

https://asbnetwork.org/remembering-denise-bowyer/

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/denisebowyer/

https://www.huffpost.com/author/denise-bowyer