Roderick Bowden

Roderick Leonard Bowden, a symbol of the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), passed away on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at Gwinnett Medical Hospital. Roderick was born on August 10, 1992 at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia to Aaron Bowden and Lavern Watson-Bowden. Roderick was the youngest of his blended family. He was a devoted son, brother and servant of the Lord. Although Roderick was born with a chronic illness (sickle-cell anemia), Roderick was able to attend and graduated from Smoke Rise Elementary, Tucker Middle School and Tucker High School. Roderick’s Illness took a toll on his body almost immediately after graduating from high school. Two days after graduation, while attending a Young Life Organization camping trip to Denver, Colorado, he took ill and was hospitalized. After overcoming that hurdle, he would later continue his education at Valdosta State University (VSU) and Georgia State University (GSU) but again, coupled with being diagnosed with clinical depression, his affliction would prevent him from accomplishing his goal of obtaining his college degree in Criminal Justice. Roderick ventured out into the working world and being blessed with the “gift of gab” held several sales/customer service positions. His favorite was selling cars at the Stone Mountain Toyota dealership. He developed such a passion for selling cars that somehow his hospital visits subsided. However, the monster reared its head again, he had to be hospitalized and that job ended. The opportunity presented itself for Roderick to return to GSU for the Fall Quarter, 2022 to complete the classes for his degree. He was very excited about this. No sooner had he started, he was again hospitalized on more than one occasion. Roderick realized that his body could not handle the demands required for his studies and so regretfully quit his classes. As Roderick dealt with other issues in his life along with his illness, his depression escalated which sent him into a manic state that catapulted into psychosis. Roderick was a natural. He was smart, kind, soft spoken, and always had time to answer questions or solve a problem. Roderick attended church services, bible study and participated into Sunday School Zoom classes whenever he could. He enjoyed playing video games with online friends. As a certified Atlantan, Roderick had an enthusiastic love for the Atlanta Braves. Roderick is survived by his mother, Lavern; father Aaron; brothers, Sefu, Aaron and La’ron; special auntie Rel; several other aunts, uncles and relatives.

Tributes

Roderick Bowden

August 10, 1992 - October 8, 2022