Restaurateur Don Bowden of Keller recalled for his generous heart

Don Bowden was known as a restaurateur and entrepreneur, but friends and family said charity was in his heart.

Bowden, who founded the company that created Wholly Guacamole and who also gave generously to the Greater Keller Women’s Club and many North Texas organizations, died Sept. 14. He was 90.

Long-time friend and business partner Steve Parnell called Bowden an incredible mentor and friend.

“Don was driven to do things whether they were successful or not,” Parnell said. “If someone told him that he couldn’t do something, he would take that as a challenge.”

Bowden, who had lived in Keller since the 1960s before moving to Southlake five years ago, was a well-known restaurateur and entrepreneur, beginning in the 1960s when he was a founding partner of Pancho’s Mexican Buffet. He started Dos Gringos in 1972 and Mercado Juarez in 1982.

Bowden wanted to serve the best guacamole at his restaurants, and he adapted a new technology from Europe called high pressure processing to kill bacteria and preserve food.

He imported avocado pulp from Mexico, and created an all-natural guacamole that can be stored in the refrigerator for weeks and the freezer for months.

Parnell said Bowden did not invent the technology, but he saw how he could use it to perfect a natural and flavorful guacamole.

Parnell recalled that Bowden bought an expensive machine to use for preparing the avocados.

“He called himself the only venture capitalist in our company,” Parnell said.

Besides his entrepreneurial spirit, Bowden will be remembered for his desire to help others.

His daughter, Donna Winborn, described how Bowden often helped his employees with personal loans. Some paid him back, but others didn’t, she said.

“That was his heart, to help people,” she said.

“I can’t tell you the number of times we woke up and there was someone he brought into our house who came to live with us; he tried to help a number of people,” Winborn said.

Winborn described how her father was always working, but he also played hard, taking the family on ski trips and loading up the horse trailer for equestrian events on weekends.

Bowden was born on March 22, 1932, in Fort Worth.

He graduated from Paschal High School, where he also played football, before he graduated from TCU with a degree in accounting.

Bowden started as an accountant for Primate Construction, which he he later bought.

Winborn recalled nights sitting in the car with her brother while their father did the road work, using a concrete saw without a crew on jobs that he underbid.

“He was always driven, and loved to work” she said.

Bowden ran his company, Wholly Guacamole, until he sold it in 2011, making sure employees got their share of the proceeds.

Bowden and his wife Linda devoted much of their time to helping numerous organizations, including the Victory Therapy Center. They funded and built the events center The Bowden, and gave it to the Greater Keller Women’s Club in 2017.

Proceeds from the Bowden are distributed to charities throughout Tarrant County.

Bowden was never one to sit still or shy away from a challenge, his daughter said.

In 2018, he started Fresh Innovations LLC, which produces ¡Yo Quiero! dips, guacamole and salsas.

Bowden’s son, Clay, described his father as someone who worked hard, but he also appreciated pushing himself in activities like deep-sea fishing and skiing.

“He didn’t care how it looked,” Bowden said, describing how his father skied straight down the hill just to experience the thrill of it.

“He was tenacious and giving. There is only going to be one Don Bowden,” he said.

Survivors include a sister, Elizabeth Jansen; children, Clay Bowden and his wife, Cindy, Donna Winborn and her husband, Dennis, Bliss Nelson and her husband, Daniel.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Oct. 8 at Keller United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to Victory Therapy Center or Keller United Methodist.