Dorothy Stebbins Bowles; Wife of Late Diplomat

Dorothy Stebbins Bowles, 86, who gained an international reputation as an independent-minded diplomat during her late husband’s tours as U.S. ambassador to India. Chester Bowles, was a principal foreign policy adviser to President John F. Kennedy and served as ambassador to India twice, first from 1951 to 1958, then from 1963 to 1969. Known as “Steb,” Mrs. Bowles was an advocate of international peace, a down-to-earth emissary who invited Indian students, artists and musicians to the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and became widely known in India. She delighted in Indian culture and raised eyebrows among other Americans when she began to wear a sari, the traditional, wrap-around Indian dress. She continued wearing a sari after returning to Connecticut, and wore one to her husband’s funeral in 1986. On Tuesday in Essex, Conn.