Roger Stowers, age 78 of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin passed away peacefully Sunday, September 13, 2020 at his residence.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be held Thursday, September 17, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Wisconsin Dells with Father Eric Sternberg celebrating. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in Wisconsin Dells. Visitation will be held at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church on Thursday from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass at 11 a.m.

Roger was born January 27, 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin the son of Roland and Ruth (Mulligan) Stowers. Raised on a Wisconsin Dairy farm near Wisconsin Dells, he grew up playing piano, accordion and then tuba in a Polish Street Band and also became interested in Bluegrass Music in 1988.

In his early years, Roger worked for the Soma Boat line, driving boats and guiding tourists on the Upper and Lower Dells and the Original Ducks. Later he worked for the FBI, Milwaukee Police Dept., Wisconsin Dells Police Dept., Badger Ordnance, and the Federal Prison at Oxford, Wisconsin.  Roger attended college for seven years on a part time basis studying Math, Physics and Mechanical Engineering.

Roger spent much of his time free-lance writing. Over a period of thirty years he had over 100 articles published. He authored or co-authored three books.  The subjects of which were either the shooting sports or bluegrass music. Roger spent about five years doing reference work for Pierre Van Der Walt, an author and professional hunter in South Africa. Pierre dedicated one of his books to Roger.

In 1992 Roger developed a website dedicated to the Kay Upright Bass. He collected information from all over the world and was able to build a Date of Manufacture and Model database used for reference throughout the world.

Anyone having the pleasure of knowing Roger, knew he loved stories, and we loved to listen to the stories. Stories were important to Roger. He always wanted to know your story.

Roger spent many summers in his retirement working with the tourists and J-1 students.  He befriended many J-1 students and some became lifelong friends.

Roger is survived by a daughter, Tammy (Bill) Stowers-Tonn; grandchildren, Kyle (Stephanie) Stowers, Kassie Stowers, Samantha Tonn and Nick Tonn; and great grandchildren, Millie Jo and Milo Timothy, children of Kyle and Stephanie; and a brother, Patrick (Martha) Stowers. He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Timothy; daughter in law, Bonnie; and a sister, Clara and a brother Steve.

This additional information and details were written by Roger himself.

Lost a D-1 (UW-Wisconsin) football scholarship after a knee injury

1960 - Accepted an appointment to the FBI, studied fingerprints and eventually testified as a fingerprint expert and expert in criminal photography while working for the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Police Dept.

Went to college 7 years part time and studied Math, Physics, and Mechanical Engineering but never received a degree

1967-1975 Worked for Olin Corp. (Winchester-Western Division) as a production supervisor and assistant to the Process Engineers in the production of small arms gunpowder during the Vietnam War.

1975 - 1995 - Retired as a Utility Engineer from the Federal Bureau of Prisons

1971 - Started writing articles for magazines, eventually being a free-lance writer for four magazines. Wrote articles on the shooting sports and bluegrass music. I wrote for two of Wolfe Publishing magazines, Handloader and Rifle, in Prescott, Arizona, Precision Shooting Magazine, Bluegrass Unlimited, also doing CD reviews for Bluegrass Now magazine. Wolfe Publishing assembled a book of some of the articles called "Gibbs Cartridges and the Front Ignition Loading Technique."

1990 Bought a M-4 Kay Upright bass with a serial number on an inner tag. Wanted to learn about the model and serial number. Started researching the Kay bass. At first I made up questionnaires and handed them out a bluegrass festivals. About 1992 I was exposed to the internet and posted the questionnaire on a personal website. About 1998 Dennis Shaske offered to provide Kaybass.com (URL) to me and the website has been active ever since.

2014-2018  My wife of 55 years contracted Altzheimers and I became the primary caregiver until she passed in 2018. Lucky, Steven Ayres came to the rescue and assisted with the collection of data on Kay basses and Kay cellos. (give yourself a lot of credit for taking over, you are a lifesaver)