Golden Neighbor
Don Bowen
Canyon Creek’s ‘Storm Siren Man’ by “Mister Jimmy” Van Orden
D
o you pay attention when Richardson’s pole-mounted storm sirens blast shrill warnings at noon once a month? Hate to admit it, but I seldom did. I heard them, of course, and usually looked at my watch when their high-pitched screams assaulted my ears. But it wasn’t until I met Canyon Creek’s Don Bowen that I realized their important role in keeping us safe during emergencies such as floods and tornadoes. Don told me about the dedicated men and women—members of the Richardson Wireless Klub (RWK)—who keep tabs on the storm sirens’ performance. It was early one morning as we gabbed on the sidewalk at Lawnmeadow and Copper Ridge near Canyon Creek Elementary School. He was on his daily walk—which he bicycles when the weather suits him—to his part-time job as an information technology specialist at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). He’s been doing the three-mile round-trip from his Flat Creek Drive house for the past 20 years. “About 25 ‘ham’ radio operators monitor the sirens every month,” Don explained. “Their job is to let each other know the sirens are working properly. An Office of Emergency Management radio operator listens to their reports on days when the sirens are activated. When necessary, the emergency coordinator notifies the city and work crews are assigned to repair sirens that don’t turn on or have mechanical issues.” Don, the team’s “storm siren” and emergency coordinator for the past dozen years, knows a lot about “ham” radios. Now 84, he’s been into the hobby since 1957 when he earned his radio operator’s license. “Hello, this is K5LHO,” Don speaks into his radio’s microphone. Sitting on Don’s desk in a porch converted into a “ham shack,” as he affectionately calls the small space packed with electronic equipment, are his radio and speaker. They’re connected by wires strung across the room to a 15-foot antenna mounted on the roof. Don’s wife of 63 years, Gwen, who also earned her radio operator’s license in 1957, enjoys listening to Don’s animated radio conversations. Tying the knot in 1954, Don and Gwen are among the longest-married couples in Canyon Creek. They bought their first Richardson house—on Vernet Street—in 1958. They moved into their Flat Creek home in 1965, about the same time construction started on Canyon Creek Elementary School.
Canyon Creek didn’t exist “The town was different back then,” said Don. “The housing development we call Canyon Creek wasn’t here, nor was UTD. Once you crossed north over Campbell Road, which was only two lanes wide and covered by a layer of oil instead of cement, all you saw were large fields, trees and creeks—Canyon, Cottonwood and Prairie— that bisected the land.” 20
Don commutes on foot or on his Schwinn bicycle to his part-time job as an information technology specialist at UTD. He’s been doing the three-mile round-trip from his Flat Creek Drive house for the past 20 years.
Don’s present employer, UTD, which was established as the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, “was an enormous, empty field. There were no buildings, sidewalks or roads,” he said. The land for UTD’s campus was purchased in 1962 and the first building, the Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Science, which later was called the “Founders Building,” opened in 1964. Don parlayed his love of radios, as well as an SMU engineering degree, into landing his first big job in the Design and Development Laboratory at Collins Radio Company in 1957. It was an exciting time to work there. The company provided communications devices and satellite voice transmission systems for America’s space program, including equipment astronauts used to communicate with earth stations and spacecraft. He left Collins in 1962 to begin a 20-year career with a startup company purchased by Johnson Controls, a firm specializing in designing, producing and installing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, industrial refrigeration units, and fire and security equipment. After a brief stint with eSystems, Inc., an electronic equipment manufacturer, he finished his career at the Department of Defense and retired in 1995.
‘Friends all over the city’ UTD students in Don’s computer lab know him as a mentor and friend.
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