Frances Elaine Cowen

Frances Elaine Cowen, 85, passed away on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Tyler, TX.

Frances Cowen was born Oct. 4,1939, in El Dorado, AR to Oliver Louis Jones and Eunice McCartney Jones. She graduated from Tyler’s Chapel Hill High School.

She was blessed with two marriages in her life, in 1959 to Edward Thomas Gilpin with whom she had four sons and in 1970 to Kenneth D. Cowen, her husband of fifty years, with whom she was blessed with two daughters.

Throughout her career she worked at the Dallas Times Herald as a proofreader/typesetter, in advertising in East Texas, and as a data entry specialist.  While her daughters were in high school, she went to back to college, completing a BA in Psychology in 1994 and a Masters in Special Education in 2004. She then became a Certified Teacher in the Mesquite ISD, teaching and working with students with disabilities until her retirement.

Frances was a loving wife, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She had a wonderful smile, a mischievous sense of humor and a sweet tooth, loved traveling, reading and playing dominoes. She was an active member of Tyler Tabernacle United Pentecostal Church for many years and Abundant Life Temple in Gladewater in recent years. She was a faithful woman of God and leaves behind a legacy of family, faith, examples of true love, and heart-felt kindness.

She is preceded in death by parents, Oliver Louis Jones and Eunice McCartney Jones; husband Kenneth D. Cowen; brothers O.L. Jr. Jones, Vernon Jones, Jerry Jones, Dale Jones, and David Jones; granddaughters Jessica Gilpin, Amelia Francis Gilpin and Tamara Trujillo; and son, Kenneth Gilpin.

Frances is survived by her beloved sister Nora Porter; sons, Douglas Gilpin (Claudia,) Derek Gilpin (Peggy,) Stephen Gilpin (Karran); daughters, Amy Clardy, and Emily Starkey (Buddy); beloved stepchildren, Ken Thompson (Reba,) Mary Tyner, and Tammy Campbell. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Visitation for Frances Elaine Cowen will be held at Tyler Tabernacle at 3115 E. Fifth Street, Sat., Apr. 19, from 10-11 am. At 11, will be a memorial service and celebration of life with Bro. Sammy Draper officiating. Interment will follow at Williams Cemetery, 16342 St. Highway 64 E, Tyler, under the direction of Jackson’s Burks-Walker-Tippit Funeral Home.