Pat Bowlen

Patrick Dennis Bowlen (February 18, 1944 – June 13, 2019) was a Canadian–American lawyer, executive and the majority owner of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL), winning three Super Bowls. He was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the class of 2019. Bowlen owned other professional sports franchises in the Denver Colorado Area. Bowlen served as the Broncos CEO from 1984 until July 2014, when he stepped down as Broncos' CEO due to the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease. Early life Bowlen was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin to American mother Arvella (née Woods) and Canadian father Paul Dennis Bowlen, who became a millionaire in the Canadian oil business, founding Regent Drilling as a wildcatter. The oil company is now owned by his brother John. Bowlen was Catholic and spent his childhood in Alberta. He then attended Campion High School, a Catholic Jesuit boarding school in his native Wisconsin. Bowlen later earned degrees in business (1965) and law (1968) from the University of Oklahoma. During his time at Oklahoma he played for the Oklahoma Sooners freshman football team as a wide receiver, as well as for the Edmonton Huskies junior football team, where he was part of three Canadian Junior Football League Championship teams from 1962 to 1964. The younger Bowlen became wealthier by becoming a successful lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta. Bowlen also worked as an executive for his father's company and as a real estate developer and had major investments in the mining industry. During his business career in Edmonton his construction company, Batoni-Bowlen Enterprises, built the Northlands Coliseum, which would become home to the WHA/NHL's Edmonton Oilers for 42 years. Bowlen was an initiated member of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity. Bowlen was initiated by the University of Oklahoma, Beta Omicron chapter in 1963. Bowlen received bar admission in 1969 and was a member of the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association.