Otis Ray Bowen (February 26, 1918 – May 4, 2013) was an American politician and physician who served as the 44th Governor of Indiana from 1973 to 1981 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1989. Early life Bowen was born near Rochester, Indiana, to Vernie Bowen and Pearl Irene Wright. His father's side of the family was deeply religious and originally came from Ohio. Vernie Bowen graduated from Valparaiso University and was a teacher for 43 years. Vernie Bowen also owned a hardware store in Leiters Ford, was a trustee for Aubbeenaubbee Township, president of the Woodlawn Hospital Board of Trustees, and president of the Leiters Ford Merchants Association. His father was a Scottish Rite Freemason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1915, Vernie Bowen married Pearl Irene Wright, whose family was also from Ohio and involved with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Otis Bowen is a distant relative of George H. W. Bush through two brothers who immigrated to New England from Somerset, England. Bowen received his elementary and high school education from local schools and went on to graduate from Indiana University Bloomington with an A.B. in 1939 and the Indiana University School of Medicine with an M.D. in 1942. At IU, he became a member of the Delta Chi fraternity as well as the Phi Beta Pi medical fraternity. He holds 30 honorary degrees including those from schools in his home state such as Indiana University, the University of Notre Dame, Ball State University, Valparaiso University, and Anderson University. In addition to an honorary degree, Bethel College also named their campus library in his honor. Bowen married Elizabeth Anne Steinmann in 1939, who died shortly before his term as Indiana Governor expired in 1981. They had four children; Rick, Judy, Tim, and Rob. Following Elizabeth's death, he married Rose May Hochstetler in September 1981, a marriage which lasted until Rose's death in 1991. From 1992 until his death in 2003, he was married to his third wife, Carol Hahn. Career Bowen began his career as an intern at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, in 1942. From 1943 to 1946 he served in the Medical Corps of the United States Army, rising from the rank of 1st lieutenant to captain. On his return from World War II, he set