Rev. Frederick Cowen Succumbs In Florida

Rev. Frederick Cowin Succumbs In Florida

Retired Minister Dies At 73 While On Vacation Trip

Rev. Frederick Cowin, retired Ann Arbor minister and one of the city’s best-loved figures, collapsed and died suddenly in Winter Park, Fla., yesterday afternoon at the age of 73.

Rev. Mr. Cowin died while addressing the Winter Park Rotary Club. He had just finished reciting the first verse of Robert Burns’ “Flow Gently, Sweet Afton.”

A familiar figure in Ann Arbor affairs, he had retired in 1943 after 16 years in the pulpit of the former Church of Christ, Disciples. The church is now known as the Memorial Christian Church.

Resident Here Since 1927

He had been a resident of Ann Arbor since 1927, coming here after serving Detroit churches for the previous nine years. His home here was at 1621 Granger Ave.

Rev. Mr. Cowin had preached in widespread points throughout the world following his ordination to the ministry in 1900. Since his retirement, he had served as a substitute pastor and lecturer, his scholarly knowledge of the poet Burns often carrying him into University classrooms and before service and fraternal organizations.

He was born on the Isle of Man on Aug. 22, 1878. After receiving his early education in Dalton-in-Furness and Birmingham, England, he came to America and entered Wycliffe College in Toronto, Ont.

Following his ordination, Rev. Mr. Cowin began a long series of pastorates that took him to Glasgow and Kirkcaldy in Scotland, Capetown and Johannesburg, South Africa, and. Buluwayo in Southern Rhodesia.

Served In Toronto

He later served for 11 years in Toronto before coming to Detroit in 1919. In 1923, he became associate pastor of the Central Christian Church with Rev. Edgar DeWitt Jones. Rev. Mr. Cowin has frequently served that church during the absence of Dr. Jones.

He took the pulpit of the East Grand Blvd. Christian Church in 1924 and came to Ann Arbor three years later.

The University named Rev. Mr. Cowin an honorary alumnus in 1939, citing, in part, “his understanding and genial counsels (which) have given him a special place in the hearts of the students and the faculty.”

He was also a member of the University Club, an honorary member of Masonic Fraternity Lodge, a member of the Ann Arbor Rotary Club and of the Dunworkin’ Club."

Rev. Mr. Cowin and his wife, Alice, were spending their first winter vacation in Florida at the time of his death. They were married in Canada in 1911. Mrs. Cowin, who survives, is a native of England.

Son Survives

Besides his wife, Rev. Mr. Cowin is survived by a son, Fred P. Cowin of East Ann Arbor; a daughter, Mrs. Wilson Daugherty of Alma, Mich.; and two granddaughters.

A second son, Lt. Douglas A. Cowin of the U. S. Marine Corps, was killed fighting Chinese guerillas in July, 1946.

Funeral services will be held at 2 o’clock Friday afternoon at the Muehlig Chapel with Dr. Jones, who will fly to Ann Arbor from Florida, officiating. Burial will be made in Botsford Cemetery on the Earhart estate.

Members of the “Dunworkin' Club” will act as honorary pallbearers.

The body will be brought to the Muehlig Chapel, where friends may call from Thursday noon until the hour of the service.