James Adam Ulmer, Jr., (Jim), 88, of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on Oc-tober 2, 2019, at the Uniontown Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center.
He was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Ulmer, Sr., and was a resident of Uniontown since 1976.
Mr. Ulmer was the Owner and President of E.W. Bowman, Inc., in Uniontown, for over 40 years. The company manufactured annealing and decorating furnaces for most of the North American glass container producers. Under Mr. Ulmer’s direction, the company expanded into overseas markets, with an emphasis on quality control, energy conservation and service. In 1992, E.W. Bowman, Inc. was named Pennsylvania “Exporter of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Ad-ministration. The company experienced success with dedicated employees and unique relation-ships between labor and management, due largely to Mr. Ulmer’s leadership. Mr. Ulmer trav-elled to 57 countries during his time at E.W. Bowman, Inc.
Mr. Ulmer cared deeply for the Uniontown community, and gave generously without reservation to many organizations in the area.
Mr. Ulmer enjoyed photography, reading and sports, with a special affinity for golf. He excelled in high school athletics and served as Senior class president at Willoughby HS near Cleveland, Ohio. He served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1951-1953.
Mr. Ulmer is survived by:
His wife, Eleanor (Sugie) C. Ulmer of Uniontown;
His four children; Claire A. Standish (Rick) of Uniontown; James A. Ulmer III (Becky) of Midlo-thian, VA; William R. Ulmer (Ellen) of Uniontown; and David R. Ulmer (Leann) of Bluffton, SC; and their mother, Mary Lou Williams Ulmer of Richmond, VA; 2 step-daughters; Marika McFad-den of Uniontown, and Michelle Molnar Schneider of Del Ray Beach, FL; 10 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren.
Mr. Ulmer was pre-deceased by his parents, James A. Ulmer, Sr. and Mary Howard Vaughan Ulmer, and a granddaughter, Molly Ulmer.
Friends will be received from 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm on Friday, October 11, 2019 at Andrew D. Fer-guson Funeral Home & Crematories, Inc., 80 Morgantown St., Uniontown, PA 15401.
Visitation will continue at 10 am on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at Trinity United Presbyterian Church, (79 W. Fayette St., Uniontown, PA 15401) followed by a funeral service and celebra-tion of Jim’s life at 11 am. with Rev. Jim Gear officiating. Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to the Uniontown Public Library (24 Jefferson St., Uniontown, PA 15401), or a charity of your choice.
The family would like to extend appreciation to the staff of Uniontown Healthcare & Rehabilita-tion Center, most especially to Ms. Donna Petronie and Ms. Diane Poole.
My condolences on the passing of Jim Ulmer. I interviewed him several times and wrote stories about EW Bowman on a number of occasions and found Jim to be a real gentleman and cooperative subject. He was always straight up with me, something you don’t often find in corporate leaders. A very fine man.