Cayla Bowen Vickery

Mrs. Janet Cayla Bowen Vickery, age 33, entered into rest Tuesday morning, February 23, 2016, at the Lower Cape Fear Hospice Pavilion in Wilmington, North Carolina following a courageous fight against cancer.  Cayla was born February 5, 1983 at the former Saint Francis Hospital in Charleston, a daughter of Gregory Dan Bowen and Jan McMillan Bowen of Walterboro.  Walterboro was her home, where she was raised, having graduated class of 2001 from Walterboro High School.  During her childhood years she played many softball games and enjoyed sports recreations of all kinds.  Cayla’s passion in life was to help others through nursing.  She received her nursing degree from Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in 2008 and was recently accepted and entered the Nurse Practitioner Program at Chamberlain College.

To know Cayla, was to know the love, passion, and generosity of her sweet soul.  Her love for a bright sun shiny day on the water and being in a boat led her to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where she established her life with nursing and hospice care.  She served as a Director of Nursing at Britewater Assisted Living and Retirement Community in Myrtle Beach.    Her family and her work were her greatest pastimes, along with the fact that she was even more so the adventurous type who would try anything once.

Cayla met the love of her life, J.R., and was married on January 27, 2016 and made Wilmington, North Carolina her home. In Wilmington, she was a nurse at Cypress Pointe Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.  Though her time on this earth was short, in those thirty-three wonderful years she accomplished by far more than most ever will.  She touched more lives through her care and countless hours of volunteer work within the Hospice Community.  After the diagnosis of her illness, the Team Cayla was formed.  This team led a truly inspiring journey that did not allow cancer to win or gain any ground and she did not lose her battle Tuesday morning, she won the victory!

Surviving in addition to her parents, Greg and Jan of Walterboro and her husband J.R. of Wilmington are: her three beautiful children, Ally, Gavin, and Bailey; two sisters, Dani Bowen Youmans (Erick) of Varnville and Karmyn Bowen (Steven) of Walterboro; a brother, Gunner Bowen (Kennedy) of Walterboro; a nephew, Landon; and three nieces, Lorryn, Hadley, and Charleigh.  She is also survived by her grandparents, Barbara Harvey McMillan and Clyde and Pat Bowen; and also her mother-in-law, Cindy Ann Lake.  She was preceded in death by a grandfather, Jim McMillan.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be directed in her memory to any cancer organization of one’s choice that will further cancer research and treatment for others and children.

Family and friends are invited to gather to celebrate her life and share their memories from 4 o’clock until 6 o’clock this Saturday afternoon, February 27, 2016, at The Brice W. Herndon and Sons Funeral Homes, Walterboro Chapel.

Arrangements by:   THE BRICE W. HERNDON AND SONS FUNERAL HOMES AND CREMATORY, WALTERBORO CHAPEL, 1193 Bells Highway, Walterboro; 843.538.5408.  Visit our online registry at: www.briceherndonfuneralhome.com.