Rachel Seymour

Mary Jane Cunningham’s knuckles turned white as she held on to the rectangular block of granite. Engraved on the stone was “Raleigh C. Bowlby,” the name of her late husband, who was killed in WWII 61 years ago, last Friday.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “I think I’d like it at the foot of his grave.”

It was the first time she had seen the memorial that commemorated the fallen soldiers from the University of Kansas, on which the name of her late husband was forgotten.

His name was added to the middle column of names on the east side of the Campanile in February.

Cunningham was given the replica on Saturday during a special dedication ceremony of the addition of his name to the Campanile.

Thirteen of Bowlby’s family members, Chancellor Robert Hemenway, Jeff Weinberg, assistant to the chancellor, Warren Corman, university architect, and a color guard from the United States Armed Forces attended the ceremony.

“This is a very special day for the University,” Hemenway said in his opening speech. “We take great pride in this memorial, but it does not truly fulfill the intent of the Campanile so long as anyone who lost their life in harm’s way during WWII is not on the list.”

Bowlby’s brother-in-law, Scott Shahan, said it was important Bowlby’s name was added to the memorial.

“He was a wonderful guy,” he said. “He sacrificed for all of us, and that is the reason why we’re all here.”

Bowlby’s name was left off the memorial when it was erected 55 years ago. The omission was discovered in the 1960s by Kathy Booth, the daughter of his widow. But it wasn’t until last June that Booth called University Relations to question the missing name.

“Our intention was just to find out if he qualified,” Booth said in a previous interview. “We wanted to see if they could just add his name to the archives.”

Booth speculated that Bowlby’s name was left off because neither her mother nor Bowlby’s parents had been contacted by the University.

Second Lieutenant Raleigh C. Bowlby Jr. enlisted in the Army in February 1941, only three months short of graduating from the University.

He was killed in action near Cassino, Italy, on April 9, 1944.