C. Benjamin Bowen graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1959 and began practicing law in Greenville, South Carolina. He was a charter member of the Public Defender Corporation of Greenville County and served as chair from 1981 to 2004. He was also a founding member and past president of the S.C. Workers’ Compensation Claimants Association as well as the S.C. Trial Lawyers Association. Bowen served on the Governor’s Committee for Improvement of Workers’ Compensation Laws from 1972 to 1987 and was appointed to the Greenville County Election Commission in 1981, serving as chair from 1983 to 2001. He was also a past commander of James F. Daniel Jr. Post 3 American Legion and judge advocate with the S.C. Department of the American Legion.
Bowen was awarded the Stalwart Award from the American Trial Lawyers Association in 2001, the Order of the Palmetto in 1998, and the Compleat Lawyer Award from the USC School of Law in 2004. He died in Greenville in May 2005.
Bowen is survived by his wife, Vera, of 57 years; two sons, Chuck Bowen and his wife Kim, and Brian Bowen and his wife Julie; and four grandchildren, Ben, Chris, Beth, and Matthew Bowen.