Family Front
Packaging is far from Al’s only world. He is a devoted family man and has been for decades. Al, the fourth of six children born to Ralph and Eva Bowers, met his wife of 38 years Lori, who coincidentally comes from a printing family—her grandfather and uncle were printers, which Al did not know—back in high school. Together they have three children: Andrew, 32, a captain and pilot in the U.S. Air Force, currently based in Oklahoma; John, 27, a visual effects expert for movies and TV, married to his college
sweetheart Leighton and living in Los Angeles; and Leah, 20, currently a sophomore majoring in creative writing and digital media at Lake Forest University, Lake Forest, IL.
At the homestead, Lori says Al can often be found challenging his mind by solving crossword puzzles, honing his culinary skills in the kitchen (and cleaning up after himself in the process) and following Detroit’s sports teams; football’s Lions, baseball’s Tigers, and hockey’s Red Wings. This sports enthusiast loves golf and endeavors to hit the links as often as possible.
In the past, when donning his Dad’s hat, Lori says Al coached boys’ soccer and served as a bench coach in the local youth hockey league. He also frequented all three of his children’s drama performances and musical concerts, where he applauded their accomplishments and encouraged their passions.
As a youth, Lori says, he was in a traveling choir that made annual tours singing in churches. Today, he sings for Neenah’s Whiting Community Baptist Church choir and for nearby Appleton’s Master Singers. Reminiscing about past interests, she noted, “Fritz loved to play softball. Through the years, he played 3rd base on the men’s team at our local churches, he played fast pitch for the 8th Infantry in Bad Kreuznach,Germany; and he played for the Washington Street team at American National Can.”
As Lori recalled, family and FTA at times became intertwined. “Our son John graduated from high school in 2002. I thought the
family might enjoy seeing John’s last drama production, so I planned a party on the first weekend of May. Fritz attended the kick off performance on Friday night and left first thing Saturday for Forum. In 1999, when he left Pechiney, the guys put together a fake cover of FLEXO Magazine featuring Fritz holding a cup of coffee. It represented the ultimate honor. Fritz will be truly humbled that the association is recognizing him in the Hall of Fame.”
Lori quipped that, “It takes us twice as long as normal people to do shopping on every grocery trip. Al looks at every competitor’s work. I can never get him away from packaging. He loved the print shop in high school and he still loves it today.”
She added, “As much as Al likes printing from the management side, I know that he’d really love to get on press and tweak things. He really enjoys the physical side of his craft as much as the innovations side.”