Brooklyn Living Legend Bonita Gower Tillman shared her family history and career highlights with us.

Bonita Gower Tillman spent her entire professional career as a journalist after graduating from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., in 1980 with B.A. degrees in both Journalism and Political Science and a teaching certificate.

After a brief stint as a substitute teacher at Lovejoy High School, she worked as an editor and reporter for the Suburban Journals newspaper chain for 15 years in the Metro-East communities of Granite City, Edwardsville, East St. Louis and Belleville.

In 1996, she transferred her skills to a public relations position at Nestle Purina pet products company in St. Louis. She rose through the ranks from a Communications Specialist to Senior Communications Specialist and retired after 22 years in 2018 as Manager of Corporate Public Relations.

Since that time, Bonita has started her own freelance writing service, Aries Communications LLC, where she regularly contributes to the St. Louis Business Journal and several of its affiliates across the country.

She also continues to support the journalism profession as a member of the St. Louis Press Club and the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists where she has been treasurer for 12 years.

Bonita has been a member of First Free Will Baptist Church in Brooklyn since she was a pre-teen. She is financial secretary there and works with the food pantry.

At Eastern, Bonita helped initiate the EIU Black Student Reunion celebration and served on the EIU Alumni Association Board of Directors for nine years. She has been a member of the university's Foundation Board of Directors since 2022 where she has served as secretary since 2023.

Bonita is a descendant of the Gower family, which migrated to Brooklyn, Ill., from Tennessee around 1883. Isaac Gower, a farmhand who later became a butcher, and his wife Elizabeth, a housekeeper, were parents to six children.

Their first three children -- Anna (April 1876), Mary (May 1878) and Fanny (Nov. 1882) -- were all born in Tennessee. The last three -- Robert (July 1884), Cordella (Sept. 1886) and James (July 1889) were born in Stites Township, Illinois.

The family built a home at 314 Jefferson Street where multiple generations thrived. The home sat right behind Chuck and Al's nightclub on the corner of Fourth and Jefferson streets, so it was commonplace to hear big-time St. Louis musicians playing on weekends…for free. The home was later sold and eventually demolished.

Bonita's father, Leon Robert Gower, was born in that house on Oct. 23, 1923. The only child of Fanny Gower, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Leon married Anna S. Cooper, the daughter of Walter and Clara Cooper. The couple had five children – Bruce Alvin, Bernard Frances, Barbara Ann, Blayne Spencer and Bonita Louise.

After Anna's death in May 1968, Leon married Elizabeth Beckett. The family moved to Louisville, Ky., for several years when Leon's job with the U.S. Government transferred his position there. They later returned to Brooklyn where Leon died in 1977 at age 53.

Members of the Gower family held prominent positions in Brooklyn over the years. Here is a sampling of those positions:

-- Mary Gower was married to William "Bud" Terry, who was mayor of Brooklyn for many years. He also served as school superintendent and township supervisor.

-- Fanny Gower was once the truant officer for School District 188, making house calls to see why children weren't in school.

-- Adelaide Calhoun, the eldest daughter of George and Anna Gower Calhoun, served as Stites Township Clerk for many years.

-- Bonita Gower Tillman served as a trustee on the Brooklyn Village Board for about three years after returning home from college.

Unfortunately, no descendants of the original Gower family reside in Brooklyn today, but Bonita still maintains ownership of a parcel of land.

Bonita L. Tillman