Ottawa ? Former Franklin County Sheriff Rex Bowling is being remembered by his colleagues as a hardworking lawman who made few enemies.

“I don’t know anybody who didn’t like Rex,” current Sheriff Craig Davis said. “Even people who might have viewed him as an adversary had a lot of respect for him.”

Bowling died Sunday at his home in Ottawa. He had served as sheriff for seven terms over 25 years before retiring Jan. 1, 2001.

“He was a boss, a mentor and a very good friend, and he had the ability to keep them all separate,” Davis said.

Davis said he was hired by Bowling nearly 30 years ago. Undersheriff Kevin Kimball was hired by Bowling in 1980.

“He was a fantastic boss and a fantastic sheriff,” Kimball said.

“He took a chance on this snot-nosed kid. He might have hired you as an employee, but pretty soon we all became like one big family.”

Davis said there had been times as sheriff when he still sought Bowling’s advice.

“He is really going to be missed, especially by me,” Davis said.

Bowling, 57, was the type of sheriff who would get out and work long hours with his deputies on incidents, Kimball said.

After Bowling retired as sheriff, he began working at Dengel & Son Mortuary as an assistant funeral director.

Services for Bowling will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Ottawa University. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery.