Bowen Warner Brinegar of Durham, North Carolina, passed away on December 19, victim of an automobile accident.

Bowen was a brilliant, dedicated young man with a kind, kind soul and a spectacular sense of humor. He liked to say that he was at his very best when swimming against a hard current. He loved fly fishing, especially on Pleasant Lake in New London and with his dad on the South Holston River in Tennessee. He loved hanging out with his older brother, Mackin.

He was skilled in photography and digital art and was an avid reader. He had just closed on his first house, filled with his growing art collection, that he shared with his rambunctious, joyous labradoodle Gilly.

Born on March 16, 1995, Bowen moved with his family from Lake Forest, Illinois to Durham in 2002. He attended The Hill Center, Durham Academy, and Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill. For high school he spent a year at The Salisbury School in Connecticut, finishing with three years at Proctor Academy in Andover, New Hampshire. 

Bowen had a spectacular career at Proctor, as captain of the varsity golf team, editor of the yearbook, actor in seven theater productions and director of one, and with election to Assistant School Leader his senior year. He loved his semester abroad in Segovia, Spain, which he captured in a stunning set of images. During high school summers, he also caddied at Sankaty Head Golf Club on Nantucket, where he found special beauty and joy.

Bowen attended Elon University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he developed a passion for software development. That led to his serving as teaching assistant for two courses, Full Stack Development and Data Analytics and Visualization, at UNC’s coding bootcamp. There he caught the eye of an Epic Games executive who hired Bowen as a full stack engineer. He was so engaged with his work that he decided to postpone finishing his degree, instead continuing his education with online courses through the Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan Executive Education.

This August, Bowen took on a new role as full stack engineer with Menlo Park, California-based TapResearch. While he was able to work remotely, he reveled in the opportunity to travel to San Francisco in October for a week of team building with his fellow engineers.

Bowen was adored by his mother and father, Michelle and Brad Brinegar, and brother Mackin Brinegar, all of Durham. The timing of his passing is especially sad because no one loved and celebrated Christmas like Bowen.

Bowen was predeceased by his grandparents, Merle and Della Brinegar, and Alfred and Mary Alice Mansfield, all of Lake Forest. He also leaves behind five aunts and uncles and twelve cousins across the country.

Anyone wishing to celebrate the bright light that Bowen brought to our world and support his legacy of caring and giving to others is encouraged to contribute to funds that the family has established in his memory.

You can support the Bowen Brinegar Student Scholarship Fund at The Hill Learning Center in Durham online at HillCenter.org/make-a-gift/, by mailing a check to Hill Learning Center, 3200 Pickett Road, Durham NC 27705, or by calling 919 719-7559.

Or you can support The Bowen Brinegar ’14 Performing Arts Theater Fund at Proctor Academy online at ProctorAcademy.org/bowen-brinegar-14-performing-arts-theater-fund or by mail to PO Box 389, Andover NH 03216.

For online condolences, visit HallWynne.com.