Obituary of S. John Cowan

S. John Cowan M. Ed, CD December 8th, 1936 - March 22nd, 2023 S. (Samuel), John Cowan, 86, of Kingston, Ontario passed away peacefully, March 22nd, 2023, at Kingston General Hospital. Born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, John graduated from KCVI and later Queen’s University. John started his working life in Kingston, in June of 1954, as an Apprentice Machinist at Aluminum Laboratories. Not satisfied with the career opportunities this path presented to him, John went back to school, completed his Technical Teacher’s certification then completed both a B.A. and a Master’s of Education degree, in Curriculum Design, (Queen’s University, 1974). Following this, he relocated to Brockville, Ontario and secured employment with the former Leeds and Grenville County Board of Education. During his over 40-year career in education, John was a Technical Teacher (Machinist) at both Brockville Collegiate Institute and Thousand Islands Secondary School, Technical Department Head, Program Co-ordinator, Secondary School Vice-Principal and Principal. During his remarkable career in education, John was seconded to the Faculty of Education: Queen’s University as a Summer School Instructor: Curriculum Design, and later as an Adjunct Faculty member within the Faculty of Education at Queen’s. In 1997, The Ontario Provincial Government seconded John to a joint industry/government sponsored curriculum taskforce, which saw John travel across Canada assisting school boards and teachers with the implementation of a variety of programs to assist Canadian students develop key skills necessary for employment in the technical sectors. John authored a number of articles and publications throughout his teaching career, to assist teachers and school boards develop technical curriculum. He retired from his education career in the summer of 2004. John served with the Canadian Armed Forces for over 10 years, first with the Princess of Wales Own Regiment (Kingston, Ontario) and later with the Brockville Rifles Reserves. He retired as a Captain and received the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD). An expert navigator and marksman, John won many top honours in Canadian Armed Forces land navigation and marksmanship competitions. He commented often to his family that his experience in the armed forces, time spent training at Base Borden, and serving with many great service members in both the Kingston and Brockville regiments, was transformational in his life and helped shape the man he became. His family was very proud and humbled by his military service. John was a loving husband, Dad, and Grand Dad to his family. He is survived by his devoted wife, Gloria, loving sister Shirley Edwards (Brockville, Ont.) and his three children Scott Jeffrey (Krista) Cowan (Uxbridge, Ont.), Julia Catherine Cowan (Burlington, Ont.) and Christopher John (Brenda) Cowan (Barrie, Ont.). He will be greatly missed by his eight grand children Rory, Ashlin, Forbes and Laithan Cowan, Alyssa and Jonathon Yourkin and Sophie and Aidan Cowan and his stepdaughter, Jaye (Matt) and her children Sydney and Mckenna (Sechelt, BC). A private family gathering in John’s memory is being planned in the spring. As expressions of sympathy, in John’s memory, donations to the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation or the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada would be greatly appreciated by the family.