Cheryl Jean Cowan

Cheryl Jean Cowan, age 63, passed away peacefully surrounded by her husband and her two boys at the Hospice of the Chesapeake on November 3, 2019, after a yearlong battle with cancer. She was born February 25, 1956, in North Harrow (a suburb of London, England) to Stanley and Dorothy Adam. Cheryl loved dance, and growing up she was a competitive highland dancer. She competed not only throughout England and Scotland but also throughout continental Europe. She was very good and won hundreds of medals and awards. After finishing school, she began to work as a secretary at British Airways headquarters in the London offices, where she worked until 1983. She also loved to travel; as a staff member of BA, she could fly to most places whenever space was available. She and her family enjoyed trips to the US, Italy, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand, to name a few. She met her husband, George, sitting next to her on an airplane on a trip to the US, and the rest is a love story told many times over. They were married in England on June 11, 1983, honeymooned in France, and then moved to the United States, where they began their life together in Burke, VA. Cheryl and George moved to Annapolis, MD, with their two boys in 1986, where they were actively involved in sailing and sailboat racing on the Chesapeake Bay with the Shearwater Sailing Club and the Annapolis Yacht Club. Cheryl was always the “hostess with the mostest” on the boat, but when racing she could man the helm along with the rest of the racing crew, and she always wanted her boys along — strapped into car seats tied to the rear cockpit railing. For the past 20-plus years, Cheryl was the Office Manager for the Pasadena Center for Counseling in Pasadena, MD. She loved her job and the people she worked with and they loved her in return. Cheryl went out of her way to make sure that both the counselors and their clients received the very best service possible; it just suited her servant heart to help others. In addition to being devoted to her family, her life was a living example of service: she was a Cub Scout den leader and pack secretary as her boys were growing up and supported them through Boy Scouts as well. She served in the nursery and as a member of the usher team at Bay Area Community Church for over 30 years. A favorite Bible verse, by which she lived, was Ephesians 4:32 — “And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” Cheryl is survived by her husband George and her two sons, George Jr and Scott David; her sister Angela Howard and husband Peter and their two sons and wives, Jonathon and Natalie Howard, and Phillip and Lorien Howard; her brother-in-law Alexander (Sandy) Cowan and his wife Nancy and their three sons and wives, Alec and Denise Cowan, Justin and Jennifer Cowan, and Nicholas and Janene Cowan; her sister-in-law Barbara Cowan and her four children Caz Oswald, Michael Smith, Steven Smith and Philip Smith and their families; and her many other cousins, nephews and great nephews and nieces, all of whom she loved deeply. Please join us in celebrating her life at a memorial service on Friday afternoon November 22, 2019, at 3:00 pm, followed by a gathering, at Bay Area Community Church — 884 Chesterfield Road, Annapolis MD 21401. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Cheryl Jean Cowan

February 25, 1956 - November 3, 2019