James Cowdery

1931 - 2019

Jim Cowdery passed away quietly and peacefully in the presence of his wife Anita at home in ACCEL at Longmont. James Russell Cowdery was born on December 9, 1931 in St. Louis. He graduated from McBride High School in the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1950 and joined the US Navy as a Hospitalman during the Korean War. After the war he came home to Colorado where his parents Russell and Margaret had moved. Jim always loved to tell how he chose to attend Colorado A&M (Colorado State) rather than CU, A&M allowed him to start school right away in the winter quarter. Jim was always ready to get on with the next thing and it was at Colorado A&M that Jim met Marlene Philips of Longmont who worked on the school paper. Someone suggested to Marlene that Jim Cowdery could give her a ride to Mass because he had a car! They were married on December 27th 1958 at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Denver. Jim started his career with Mountain Bell right out of school and worked there until his retirement. During the 70s Jim managed the long-distance operations, which in those days included hundreds of, mostly women, working the switchboards to route calls when someone would dial "zero." The Cowdery family moved around Colorado but settled in Boulder in 1972. The family were members of Sacred heart of Mary parish and Marlene and Jim supported their three sons while they attended Fairview High. In retirement, Jim and Marlene enjoyed traveling throughout the US and the British Isles. When Marlene founded the Shakespeare Garden Association on the CU Campus in 1991, Jim was always a consistent, supportive partner. Marlene passed away in 2003. Jim Cowdery was a charter member of the Optimist Club of East Boulder and served various positions for that organization. Jim was selected as Optimist of the Year in 2005. He was a regular fixture at CU Basketball games as a ticket taker for many years and donated his time at Boulder Community Hospital helping seniors with their government paperwork. It was at the Optimist Club where he met Anita. They were married in October 2006 and lived in Boulder together for ten years before moving to ACCEL in Longmont. Jim had the great blessing to be married to the two "loves of his life." As a husband, father and step-father, he was gracious, kind and was the icon of one of the rarest commodities in our world: a true gentleman. Jim is survived by his wife Anita Cowdery, his sons Philip Cowdery and Paul Cowdery (Michele). His youngest son John Robert Cowdery (Becky) died in 2015. And his six grandchildren: Zachary, Nathan, Philip, Joy, Samuel and Andy and his step children Therese Scott (Rick), Jim Salvator (Christa Chappell) and Meg Austin (Steve), step grandchildren Phoebe Brush (Drew Brown), Ella Salvator and Piper Salvator. Taylor Austin, Michael Austin (Carolyn), and step great grandchildren Guthrie and Louis Brown, Jacob and Zoe Austin. A funeral will be held at Sacred Heart of Mary parish in Boulder on Monday March 11 at 10:00 AM