‘An angel was among us’: Remembering Antone Bowe

The youth choir sang without him.

Inside Bible Truth Ministries on Saturday, their voices rose with the words, “I pray we all be ready.”

But there was one voice missing. Antone Bowe should have been there singing with them.

The 16-year-old was remembered at a spirited funeral surrounded by classmates, teachers, family and church members—three weeks after his life was suddenly cut short by a lightning strike while at R.M. Bailey High School.

For those who knew Antone, the silence left behind was difficult to describe.

Kevin Edgecombe, vice president of C.H. Reeves Junior High, said Antone had touched countless lives.

“He was family. We watched him grow from a young boy.”

His personality, Edgecombe remembered, could fill an entire room.

“His laughter was unforgettable and his energy impossible to ignore.”

Antone was also known for respecting his elders, showing kindness and lending a helping hand whenever someone needed it.

Now, Edgecombe said, his laughter is missing from the hallways where so many had watched him grow.

Antone’s connection to C.H. Reeves ran deep. His aunts taught at the school, he was a former student, making the young student even more familiar to the wider school family.

To his classmates, however, Antone was more than someone they went to school with.

Mia Reckley, a fellow student in 11R at RM Bailey, described him as a big brother to the class.

“There was never a dull moment with him around,” she remembered.

“Antone was someone all of us depended on and counted on.”

She described him as optimistic and thoughtful—a person who had a way of making others feel less alone.

When she learned that he had died, the grief hit her physically. She lost her appetite.

Antone had become part of the emotional fabric of the people around him.

“He made people feel less alone when he felt alone himself,” Reckley said.

“He lived a life that was full and tender at the same time.”

At church, Antone was equally present.

Pastor Ellison Greenslade remembered him as a faithful member of the congregation who attended Sunday School and was regularly present for both the 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. services.

For Greenslade, Antone’s presence was a gift.

“An angel was amongst us,” he said.

There were tears for the teenager who should have had so much more time.