By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com

A little under a week ago animals were being auctioned off in the Sale of Champions. Beginning today another auction will be taking place at the Crawford County Fairgrounds.

Unlike the auction of fair animals, this auction will be a three-day affair from the estate of the late Dr. G.W. Bowersock, and his wife Dorothy Bowersock. Dr. Bowersock, who was a practicing physician in Bucyrus, began his career in White River, Arizona, where he gave medical care to the Apache. While living on their reservation he established a rapport with them, which led to his collecting arrowheads.

Dr. Bowersock’s granddaughter, Sarah Campbell, recalls her memories of her grandfather.

“My grandfather was a very caring, kind gentleman and soft-spoken, but he had a teasing side and liked to joke,” Campbell said. “He was also a storyteller too, but a truthful story teller. So he would always tell stories of his practice and his time on the reservation in White River, Arizona. Each piece he would have a story.”

“He also loved the Civil War, loved everything about the Civil War, and has a large collection of the memorabilia,” Campbell continued.  “I remember being a kid, my brother and I would go to different shows with him and grandma, and finding the different bullets and the different memorabilia.”

“He was a beloved man both here and in Arizona,” Campbell finished.

Campbell noted that seeing her memories from her youth being sold at auction is full of mixed emotions.

“It is really bittersweet, there are so many wonderful memories of my grandfather and grandmother’s house, and all their belongings, and I feel that each piece has a story that goes with it. But the way I like to say it, I told my grandmother, and I know this is very difficult for her, but her treasures and their treasures are going to be someone else’s treasures, and that is the way I look at it.”

The sale which begins at 10 a.m. today and Saturday at the fairgrounds’ Youth Building will feature many of the items he and his wife had collected over their years together, and isn’t just limited to native artifacts. Dr. Bowersock also was a collector of Civil War memorabilia, antique medical supplies, as well as numerous antiques.

Auctioning off the items will be Mark Yosick. Yosick discussed the upcoming sale.

“We have had quite an experience going through all of the items, and Dr. Bowersock was quite an enthusiast and collector,” Yosick explained. “We have got Civil War and Native American, and on the other side of the building we have primitives of what Dorothy has collected, and it has been a collection of love. We were very good and lucky to have been able to help them sell these items.”

“It has been an honor and a privilege to have been able to work with the family,” Yosick continued.

Along with tomorrow and Saturday’s sale, a third day of the estate auction will take place at 10 a.m. on Aug. 13 at the Bowersock residence at 3973 Ohio19, Bucyrus.

For more information on the sales visit http://www.markyosickauctioneer.com/