Columbus Academy hosted the Andy Bowman Memorial Baseball Game on April 27 to honor the 2016 graduate who passed away in February of 2023. Joining his family – father Jim Bowman ’84, mother Tracey Bowman and older sister Lindsay Bowman ’14 – at the event were 22 of Andy’s classmates from Academy’s class of 2016 and 49 alumni in total in addition to many friends of the family, including some of his former teachers. Andy’s younger sister Carolyn Bowman ‘19 could not attend but was very much there in spirit.
“It means so much to our CA community and even more to Andy’s family to have all of you here to honor him,” stated Caroline Aronowitz ’16 in her welcome to the event. “Andy was such a beloved friend and member of the class of 2016, and we are so happy to see many of his friends and classmates here today who loved him so much.”
After the national anthem was performed by Academy ninth-grader Addison Griffith, Andy’s mother Tracey threw out the ceremonial first pitch and was presented with a bouquet of flowers from the Viking baseball team.
Before succumbing to his battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, Andy was a beloved student-athlete at Academy who was just starting his career in professional sports. After attending the University of Tampa and interning with the Tampa Grand Prix and the Tampa Bay Rays, Andy had begun working for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on their event planning team.