Ronald Lee BowmanFormer Catoosa County Sheriff Ronald Lee Bowman has passed away after a lengthy illness.
Bowman, who was 61, died Monday at his residence with his wife Betty by his side.
Bowman was born June 17, 1953 in Chattanooga. He was a 1970 graduate of Lakeview High School in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
He received his bachelor of science degree in Criminal Justice Administration and his masters degree in Criminal Justice Systems from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy.
Bowman was employed by the Catoosa County Sheriffs Department in 1972 as a dispatcher/jailer. From that position, he went on to become a patrolman for the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department, and in 1974 was employed as a Georgia State Trooper.
He was elected sheriff of Catoosa County in 1986, and served in that capacity until Governor Zell Miller appointed him Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.
He was once employed as director of Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe.
The family will receive friends today from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday.