Colin Gyph (Giffy) Bowen who died on December 23, aged 70, was a man of many parts.
In sporting terms he was a determined cyclist and runner, a sub aqua enthusiast, enjoyed game shooting and loved his Morgan car.
In his business life he was a founding shareholder in IoM Assurance and its deputy chairman.
His all too few years were full and fulfilled beyond normal standards, and he was well liked and regarded by all who came across him.
A tad unorthodox, Giffy had his own way of doing things. There was a fair degree of old school in him and he could be gruff and grumpy, but beneath that exterior lay a genuinely warm-hearted individual who loved nothing better than to socialise and gossip with his many acquaintances.
Beset by serious illnesses in his mid to late 60s, Giffy was determined to pursue his interests and took advantage of electric power to ensure he was in regular attendance at the weekly veterans’ cycling run. His sudden passing came just five days after he attended the veterans’ club Christmas lunch.
The previous evening he was among the many who enjoyed the annual cyclists’ get together and carols at The Baltic Hotel in Foxdale, a function he helped inaugurate 44 years previously at the Hawthorn Inn, Greeba. He had a 100 per cent attendance record.
He took to cycling first, joining the weekly all-day outings with Peter Callow, who befriended him, the pair eventually taking up racing. Giffy enjoyed success, mainly using his prowess as a sprinter, to score victories on the road, track and country sports.
Determined to represent the island at the Commonwealth Games, he finally succeeded in 1970, riding the road race in Edinburgh along with Brian Roche, Nigel Dean and Ernie Potter.
I was among those taken in by his by his enthusiasm for the sport, so too the likes of the late Nick Corkill and Dave Wood, the latter his particular life-long friend. The pair dived together for many, many years.
A notable non-sporting achievement came in 1979 when he formed part of the crew of Odin’s Raven, the replica Viking boat he helped sail from Norway to the island as a Millennium Year adventure. It was during the naked plunges into the sea while training and during the lengthy and arduous voyage, he forged a friendship with ship’s chieftain, Robin Bigland, that led to a business association with him in insurance.
Giffy also became a keen and dogged runner in the Nineties and was a regular competitor in the Syd Quirk Half-Marathon, the various 10-mile events and the Boundary/Manx Harriers half-marathon.
For many years he and the late Ian Turnbull and Brian Goldsmith were regular Sunday morning joggers on the Peel to Douglas road.
Giffy took a keen interest in the sporting activities of his daughters, Justine and Rachael, and was also a welcome supporter at sporting events, including the Island and Commonwealth Games (he attended Glasgow last summer for the latest edition).
His funeral service took place at a packed to overflowing Marown Parish Church on New Year’s Eve.
Much sympathy extended to his widow, Judith, and to his daughters and their respective husbands, Chris and Mark.