Donald Claude Cowie

Donald Claude Cowie, 82, of Mt. Pleasant died peacefully on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Hospice Center of Charleston. He was the son of the late Edith Sharon Cowie and George Cowie. Don was born into a large extended family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 8, 1927. While growing up, he spent summers with family in Green Bay, Pembine, and Niagara and worked a variety of jobs from bowling pin setter to lifeguard. He graduated from Bay View High School in 1945. In his senior year, he took a deferred enlistment in the Air Force and spent a year after graduation in Korea as a radio technician, always disappointed that WW II ended before he had the opportunity to serve. He attended the University of Wisconsin on the Gl Bill, where he was an outstanding student, champion swimmer, and member and treasurer of Alpha Chi Rho Fraternity. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Psychology in 1951. After several years working at Wisconsin Electric Power Company, he moved with his family to Canandaigua, New York and started his career with Mobil Corporation as Manager of Manpower Development for the Plastics Division. He was promoted to corporate headquarters in Manhattan in 1978 and retired in 1986. During his time at Mobil, he was Manager of Employee Relations for a number of divisions including the Chemical, Research and Development, Mineral and Mining Divisions. He brought a progressive vision and voice to an era of corporate accountability for responsible hiring and promotion practices. Don moved to Charleston in 1990 after retiring from Mobil and started his own management consulting firm, Caber Associates, providing organizational development and strategic planning services for over ten years. Don lived his life committed to promoting reason and science as the most reliable method for understanding the universe and improving the human condition. He believed we each help to make a better life for humanity and he lived that belief. His humanist values were embodied In all that he did as a husband, parent, employee, church member, and community activist. He was a life long Unitarian Universalist and a member of congregations in Milwaukee, Westport CT, and for the past twenty years, a member of the Unitarian Church in Charleston. He was a strong advocate of the local waterways, organizing water sampling teams for the nonprofit East Cooper Clean Water Council and joining the fight to "Save the Port" in response to the proposed State Ports Authority expansion on Daniel Island. He found beauty and pleasure living near water including Lake Michigan, Canandaigua Lake, Long Island Sound, Charleston Harbor, and most recently Hidden Lake in Mt. Pleasant. He had a deep passion for life and for the relationships he held so dear: his beloved family, his colleagues, his friends, and the many others he brought together. Life to him was a dance, and he danced with so many people on the tennis courts, on sailboats, in cribbage games, and during oyster roasts and gatherings at his and Nancy's harbor side home. He understood implicitly and reminded us often, that "change is the only constant." He was fond of celebrating the minor and major life passages and he often framed these moments poignantly and eloquently with words from the deepest part of his heart. He was first married to the late Charlotte Glass Cowie, and is survived by his wife of seventeen years, Nancy Waters. Other survivors include four children, Ann Cowie-Bozner of Denver, Gail Cowie (Jean), of Athens, GA, Jim Cowie (Kim), of Fallston, MD, Jill Cowie (Ben), of Marshfield, MA; a brother, George Cowie (Joyce); two stepdaughters, Meg Waters of Charleston and Monica Waters of Auckland, New Zealand; nine grandchildren, Charlotte, Hilda, and Chris Cowie-Bozner; Emily and Jonathan Cowie; Kate, Morgan, Adam, and Laura Cowie-Haskell. A Memorial Service for the family and friends will be held at 11:30 am on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the Unitarian Church in Charleston, 8 Archdale St. Charleston, SC 29401. Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer's Association SC Chapter, 2090 Executive Hall Dr. Charleston, SC 29407 or to the Secular Coalition for America, PO Box 66096 Washington DC 20035. Don's guest book may be signed at www.charlestonfunerals.com. Arrangements are by the JAMES A. MCALISTER FUNERAL HOME, 1620 Savannah Hwy. Charleston, 766-1365.