Betty Cowan

Betty June Cowan, 85, passed away Tuesday, June 17, 2014, at her home in Oak Ridge.

The eldest of three children, Betty was born Jan. 13, 1929, in Madisonville, Kentucky, to Carl and Katie Robison Curry.

Upon graduating from Oak Ridge High School, Betty worked six years at the former International Shoe Co. in Jackson.

She and Clark Cowan were married June 24, 1951, in Oak Ridge. They purchased what would come to be Cowan Hardware Store in Oak Ridge, and they remained a fixture in the greater Oak Ridge community 37 years.

For most of her adult life, Betty proudly served her community as a Democrat election judge in the Oak Ridge precinct until our most recent election. An avid fan of college basketball, Betty's devotion to her Kentucky Wildcats was legendary within her family and among all her friends.

Betty was a longtime member of First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge and played an active role in its ministry: from Women's Missionary Union, to vacation Bible school, to church training, to singing in the church choir and serving as congregational music leader. Above all else, it was teaching Sunday school that was her first love in the service of her Lord. From the College and Career Class as a young married woman to the Senior Adult Class until only three weeks before her death, Betty advanced naturally through the age groups, teaching the word of God more than 60 years.

Betty is lovingly survived by a son, Dr. Mike Cowan of Oak Ridge; a daughter-in-law, Kathy Cowan of Biehle, Missouri; three grandchildren, Jason Michael (Suzanne) Cowan of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Kimberly Rae Cowan and Jeffrey Clark Cowan (Susana Bonilla) of St. Louis; and two stepgrandsons, Seth and Sean.

She is further survived by two lifelong friends, Maxine Friedrich and Betty Riehn of Jackson, who, along with the late Lurena Mantz, were known to each other and to their respective families and friends as "the girls", and enjoyed mutual friendship and support from their early days together at Oak Ridge High School and throughout the entirety of their adult lives.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Clark, in 1997; by a beloved second son, Kevin Clark Cowan, in 2003, whose absence left a void unfulfilled until the last day of her earthly life; by a sister, Alice May Curry, and a brother, Carl Eugene Curry, whose love and laughter she cherished from their births until the day each died.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the chapel of McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson, and from 9:30 a.m. until time of service Friday at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge.

The funeral service, A Celebration of Life, Song and the Word of God, will be at 11 a.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge. The pastor, the Rev. Joshua Tillman, will officiate, assisted by the Rev. Don Estes, pastor of Shawnee Hills Baptist Church in Jackson. Music will be under the direction of Jordan Cox of Fruitland Community Church, assisted by Christi Guilliams of Shawnee Hills Baptist Church. Burial will be in Old Goshen Cemetery near Oak Ridge.

Pallbearers will be Jason Cowan, Kimberly Cowan, Jeffrey Cowan, Kenn Riehn, Rob Grayhack and the Rev. Dr. Owen Taylor. Honorary pallbearers will be members of Central High School Leadership Team: Nancy Scheller, Josh Crowell, Lance Tollison and Craig Hayden.

Memorials may take the form of contributions to First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge or to the respective church, ministry or charity of one's choice.

Online condolence messages may be sent to the Cowan family by visiting mccombsfuneralhome.com.