Gerald and Marilyn Bowman celebrate their 50th anniversary

Gerald and Marilyn Bowman will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Friday. Likely they will spend the day like they have most of their other anniversaries — working on the orchard, sorting and selling cherries.

Gerry and Marilyn were married on July 31, 1965.

They met at a rodeo dance in Bozeman in 1964 where Marilyn and Jerry were Montana State University students. 

After sharing a dance, they went their separate ways until the rodeo ended.

As everyone was heading out, a different young man was pushing to be Marilyn’s escort home, but she had different ideas.

“Another guy was hustling her and she decided she’d rather go with me,” Jerry said.

In 1965 Marilyn graduated from MSU and she and Jerry were married.

Marilyn took a teaching job near Bozeman while Jerry finished school.

After Jerry graduated in 1967 they were looking at settling down in Bozeman permanently when opportunity brought the couple to the Bowman Family orchard near Bigfork.

Jerry’s father had established the Bowman Orchard in 1921, clearing the land to plant fruit trees using horses and dynamite.

Marilyn grew up on a cattle ranch in Augusta, and Jerry grew up on the orchard.

When he was in high school Jerry had purchased a 20-acre farm in Bigfork to use for Future Farmers of America projects.

“It was one of the smarter things I ever did,” Jerry said.

After marrying Marilyn, Jerry sold the farm so they could buy property.

“We were going to buy property in Bozeman,” Marilyn said.

But when Jerry’s parents decided they were ready to retire, Jerry and Marilyn changed their plans, and bought the Bigfork orchard instead.

Starting out, in addition to running their own orchard, the Bowmans would do orchard work for other cherry growers along the lake.

Jerry also taught at Bigfork schools for five years before deciding he’d rather be in the orchards.

Over the years they’ve been able to grow the orchard and their cherry business. They bought property next door to Jerry’s uncle, and a few more parcels that they had to clear.

“I enjoyed teaching, but I kind of felt cooped up,” he said. “I wanted to be outside working.”

Though their cherry business was growing well, they almost quit after a huge freeze in 1989 killed most of the trees in the orchard.

Instead of quitting though, Jerry decided they ought to go to Washington and try to find some cherries to bring back and sell.

Instead of just finding some cherries to buy, they found a cherry orchard to lease in Moses Lake, and the Bowman’s expanded their orchard business across state lines.

A few years later the Washington orchard owner died, and the Bowmans bought the property.

“I thought there was quite a future in it,” Jerry said.

Marilyn was skeptical initially, but about two or three years after buying it, it paid for itself.

“It was a good decision we made,” she said.

Now the Bowmans own two orchards in Washington, the one in Moses Lake, and another in Kennewick, as well as their orchard near Bigfork.

By having different locations that all ripen at different times, Jerry said it helps spread out the risk and the work.

“It’s kind of neat, it gives us a long harvest,” he said.

Owning three different orchards means spending time in different places for the Bowmans.

Marilyn chooses to spend most of her time on Flathead Lake, usually just heading to Washington during harvest time.

“I spend it here because I like the lake, I like the trees and I like the mountains,” she said.

Jerry spends more time farming the land in eastern Washington because it’s flat, which makes it easier on him.

The Bowmans have also expanded the business in other ways, adding cherry related products to their line. 

They are a licensed winery and make cherry wines in an array of sweetnesses.

“That’s been a lot of fun,” Jerry said. 

While Jerry makes the wines, Marilyn makes the homemade jams they sell at their stand along Montana 35.

The Bowmans had three kids, two daughters and a son, that they raised in Bigfork. Their son now owns his own cherry orchard in Washington. They also have nine grandchildren.

Their kids grew up working on the orchard, and still help to this day, coming by after their other jobs to help sort cherries.

“We always thought it was very important to teach your family how to work,” Marilyn said.

Currently the Bowmans don’t have any plans to slow down with their cherry business.

“I think we’ll go until we can’t do it anymore,” Jerry said. “It’s a lot of work but we enjoy it.”