Cora Cowen

Cora Stone Cowen, born January 29, 1933, passed away in Charlotte, NC, on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the age of 89. Cora was born on her parents’ farm near Six Mile, Alabama. At the age of 11, her family moved to Tuscaloosa. She graduated from Holt High School in 1950. She married her dear husband, J.D. (Jay), in 1955. They lived their married life in Birmingham and Nashville. She was a long-time member of Shades Crest Baptist Church.

Cora loved to travel and joined in any activity or adventure at hand, from the Belle Fleur Club, Hi-Y, and cheerleading in high school, to Phi Delta Mu sorority in college. At nineteen, she went to Washington to spend two years working for the Department of the Navy. She enjoyed any number of clubs and activities as an adult: church choir, bridge club, bowling league, Heatherwood Garden Club, investment group, Encore singers, and Books for Belize among many others.

As dementia took its terrible toll, she endured and persevered with absolute strength and grace. As she liked to say, “Some things you have to let just pass by. Life goes on!”

Her family is forever grateful to the kind and caring staff of Reflections Memory Care at The Charlotte Assisted Living. Cora’s favorite pastime was walking. Her family thanks Curtis Robinson of Silver Linings, whose patient physical therapy enabled her to continue walking until the end.

Cora was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 63 years, Jay; her parents, James C. Stone and Fannie Mae Melton Stone; her sisters, Jeanell and Odelle; and her brother, Morris. She is survived by her daughter and son-in law, Carey Cowen Holman and Donald P. Grubbs; her son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey A. Cowen and Mary Claire Britt Cowen; her grandson, Britt Jeffrey Cowen; her niece, Scarlett Tillet; and nephews Aubrey Crawford and Gary Stone.

The family will receive friends on Friday, April 1, 2022, from 10-11 AM at Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home, 2701 John Hawkins Pkwy, Hoover, AL 35244. The service will follow in the Chapel at 11 AM with Dr. Jim Auchmuty officiating. Interment will be in Jefferson Memorial Gardens, South. In lieu of flowers, the family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to their favorite charity in Cora’s name.