In a service befitting a man who'd become a passionate advocate for the arts, Northwest School of the Arts students danced and sang during a memorial Saturday to remember their late principal, Barry Bowe.

Faculty and students smiled as they spoke of Bowe's soft but distinctive West Virginia accent. They recalled how he upped GPA requirements for participating in arts programs to push students to succeed academically.

And they described him as a dedicated administrator who was often found in the wings, cheering on his students at their performances.

Bowe, 54, was found dead Jan. 23 at his Huntersville home. Police called the incident a suicide.

His death came days after parents launched a public effort to prevent Bowe from being dismissed from his job. Word had spread that he was being forced from his job following a December incident in which someone pointed a gun at a student after a school dance. Parents said he faced discipline because of allegations of insufficient security.

On Saturday afternoon, hundreds filled the pews and lined the walls of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Beatties Ford Road, not far from the performing arts magnet school where Bowe had served as principal since 2008. Bowe's family held funeral services Jan. 29 in his native West Virginia, but students and faculty organized Saturday's memorial for what they called Bowe's "Northwest family."

Corey Mitchell, a theater arts teacher at the school, said many thought of Bowe not just as the school's principal but also as the "head cheerleader."

He said Bowe led the school, grades six through 12, through tumultuous times of layoffs and schedule changes but never lost faith in the school. "There was never any doubt about his devotion," Mitchell said.

Bowe began his teaching career in West Virginia, where he worked for 22 years before moving to a school district in State College, Pa. In 2007, he began working for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

In October, Bowe was honored with a Friends of the Arts Award for School Administration from the N.C. Art Education Association.

Mitchell said Bowe recognized what makes the school special: its students. The school is home to young people who question authority and "revel in the obscure," he said. It's a place that celebrates urban ballet dancers and skateboarding violinists.

"We let our freak flags fly," Mitchell said to laughs and cheers. "He flew his with us."

Among the speakers at the memorial were Ginny Brien, president of Friends of Northwest School of the Arts, and U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins, a friend of Bowe's and the school. Their memories of Bowe prompted laughs and nods, but it was the students' performances that caused the crowd to dab their eyes with tissues. After receiving a standing ovation for his vocal performance of "You Raise Me Up," Northwest senior Matt Carlson stood at the church's podium to describe Bowe as a principal who urged his students to pursue their dreams. "If you talked to him for five minutes, you knew he loved Northwest," Carlson said. "Northwest was his life."

Modern dance students dressed in white gracefully descended the church's aisles for a dance choreographed to instrumental music. Then, students Kyra Owen and Lexie Wolfe, accompanied by a pianist, belted out a duet of "For Good" from the Broadway musical "Wicked."

"I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn," they sang. "And we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them."

The service closed with a performance from the school choir.

Several of Bowe's family members traveled from West Virginia to attend. "It's no wonder why Barry loved it so much down here," Bowe's niece, Carrie Bowe, said of the students and faculty. "They were as much his family as I am."

Cooke: 704-358-5067