Asphalt and Freedom on Lyle Bowes’ Patriot Hill
BY Sandy Lender
Asphalt and freedom merge on Lyle Bowes’ Patriot Hill
The Bowes Construction Inc. story reads like a USA balanced mix design. A decorated war hero, Lyle Bowes, and a future woman of asphalt, Marcia Mannerud, met in the 1970s and when a tragedy could have derailed a family business, they instead built a legacy of heavy highway construction that continues next door to a veterans memorial today: Patriot Hill Memorial.
Asphalt Company History
Marcia’s father and uncle started Mannerud Construction in the 1940s as an aggregate production and trucking company serving eastern South Dakota. After Lyle received his honorable discharge from the Army, he returned to DeSmet and went to work as a truck driver for the company in 1971. That’s when he met Marcia and the two married.
An Honorably Discharged Army Veteran of Vietnam, Lyle Bowes was decorated with, among other awards, the Bronze Star Medal with the V device for Valor.
Lyle shared that his father-in-law passed away in 1973, and Marcia’s uncle and cousin weren’t going to travel for roadwork in the same capacity that Erv Mannerud had done; the company was dissolving, so by 1975 he and Marcia were able to purchase some assets and, with a partner, start Oesby-Bowes Construction. By 1981, they were able to buy out the partner and establish Bowes Construction Inc. (BCI).
The Patriot Hill Memorial has been the site of many ceremonies since its inception in 2024. The site includes stone benches where visitors can pause and reflect on the sacrifices and service of our nation’s veterans.
With this new venture growing, Marcia needed to sign on as a full-time employee. According to the company’s website, “This decision would lead to a career spanning 27 years and the opportunity to become one of the first women in South Dakota to own a road construction company, JaMir Reclamation.”
By 1991, the Billings area market needed an asphalt plant to support infrastructure development, and BCI responded with a stationary 250-TPH Barber Greene plant. The team coaxed plenty of production from the plant over the years, replacing the drum more than once and replacing the original wet dust collector with a baghouse for improved air quality.
In 2012, Lyle turned the reins over to the next generation. “I retired at 62 years old. It became evident my children were ready to have their chance,” Lyle said.
His son, Jason Bowes, had returned from the USMC in October 2004 to take over the laydown operations in the field, and daughter Miranda Bowes had joined Marcia in the office earlier that spring.
Joe Mendel, former asphalt production manager for Bowes, explained for a 2024 article that the company saw a need to go for a full upgrade at the plant to increase daily and hourly production. They had been working with Travis Mick, then the vice president of CWMF, for incremental upgrades over the years and went with a stationary 400-TPH plant with a parallel flow drum from CWMF (now a division of Astec). They went with a Hauck MegaStar burner, an 80,000-cubic-foot DustEater baghouse, an 86-foot drag slat conveyor and Minds controls. Over the winter of 2023, they battled harsh weather to get everything installed before construction season startup.
In the winter of 2023, Bowes Construction worked with CWMF (now a division of Astec) to install a stationary 400-TPH plant with a parallel flow drum with a DustEater baghouse.
Patriotism, Family, Asphalt
While the asphalt and aggregates industry has presented a solid career for Lyle, he has a foundation in his love of country that has kept him grounded as well.
Among the many community outreach activities Bowes Construction participates in, the company prioritizes annually sponsoring events that honor Veterans Day. The information shared on the company’s website echoes the sentiments Lyle shared in an interview.
From the website: “Bowes Construction’s involvement goes beyond financial support; it reflects a genuine appreciation for the dedication and service of veterans. The sponsorship underscores the company’s recognition of the importance of community events that bring people together to honor and express gratitude to those who have selflessly served the nation. Also, supporting their many employees who have served in the military. Through their sponsorship of the Veterans Day celebration, Bowes Construction exemplifies corporate citizenship, emphasizing the profound impact businesses can have when they actively engage in commemorating and supporting the veterans who have safeguarded the values and freedoms we hold dear.”
Those freedoms are something Lyle spoke of with pride. “Patriotism is the lifeblood of freedom,” he said. “We don’t have to do ‘more’ than what we’re already doing; we just have to keep doing what we do. That’s the way freedom works.”
Bowes Construction Regrades, Rubblizes for a Smoother, Safer Ride
But when Lyle wanted to include a symbol of his patriotism on his company’s property, he couldn’t help feeling he needed to keep doing more. He installed a flagpole for the American flag on a rise just north of the Bowes administrative offices and wasn’t satisfied with the height of it. He felt he needed to do more. So, he bought a taller flagpole.
“I got a 40-footer and added the Army flag and the Marine flag,” Lyle said.
It still didn’t seem like enough. “There was always a reason I wanted something else there.”
From left, Lyle Bowes, his grandson Jaxon Bowes, and fellow Veteran Gene Murphy gather at the monument for Jaxon’s OCS ceremony.
That’s how the Patriot Hill Memorial was born. He and his grandson added two statues alongside the taller flagpole—one of a Vietnam combat soldier and one of a Marine sentry. Then he reached out to a friend in the granite mining business, who offered him a 5.5-foot-tall granite end. Lyle’s daughter-in-law helped him realize he was looking for The Pledge of Allegiance as the inscription for the stone.
The Brookings Chamber of Commerce website states, “This monument was created by Lyle Bowes as a tribute to honor the brave veterans who protect our freedoms, as well as support the Disabled American Veterans Organization,” but Lyle chuckles when he shares the creative credit as a Bowes family effort.
Patriot Hill Memorial may have begun with Lyle seeking “more” from his symbol of patriotism near the plant site; Bowes Construction may have begun with Lyle and Marcia seeking “more” from a dissolving company in the early 1970s. But both continue to offer “more” in terms of benefits to the people seeking them out.
Lyle shared that veterans learn of Patriot Hill and visit without knowing anything about him, yet seek him out afterward. It’s helping to build community for veterans who have felt alone, which is a blessing for them. And like the family effort that now benefits an expanding community, Bowes Construction Inc. also continues as a family endeavor benefitting an expanding industry and economy. Both offer a legacy for our industry to recognize alongside a grateful nation of builders and patriots.