Lee Bowen, our founder and inspiration, passed away on November 21st; the end of a wild ride of a life full of cowboying and productive creativity. He played in two NCAA basketball tournaments, rode bulls, wildcatted, served in the Army, caught a bank robber, survived two airplane crashes, invented the Husker’s Lil’ Red mascot, and built the most energy efficient commercial building in Omaha.

Lee was a consummate entrepreneur, successful ventures included: feedyards, a ranch, a bank, a steakhouse, an agricultural loan company, a commodity trading company, an autism research organization, an alternative school for at-risk children, and our own SIGNS & SHAPES – world-renowned builder of custom inflatables with clients in 80 countries.

Lee Bowen was characterized by hard work, caring for people, and an insatiable drive to make things better. He innovated important aspects of raising livestock and then agricultural financing before moving to Omaha seeking treatment for his youngest daughter. Here he somehow struck out into inflatables.

The moment he received his first inflatable sign as a distributor working from the family basement, the force of his personality and will created a seemingly inevitable trajectory into design and manufacturing, inventing new materials, developing unique processes, and partnering with wide-ranging industry leaders
including a majority of teams in the NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Disney, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and aerospace & defense contractors. Lee connected with kindred spirits, such as pizzeria owners in Eastern Europe, firefighters in Phoenix, theme park developers in Hong Kong, Walmart vendors in Bentonville, party planners in Mexico City, professional mascot performers across the country, and hundreds of
others over the years and over the world, in making meaningful improvements to the way things were “normally” done.

Lee was perhaps the world’s greatest father. He will be sorely missed but leaves as a man who made a difference – in the lives of those who knew him and in the industries bettered through his innovation and unstoppable spirit. We’ll keep going in the direction Lee set us: relentlessly looking for better ways of doing things, caring, and working hard. Each time we find ourselves pushing a little beyond what might be considered normal or reasonable, we’ll know we’re on the right track.