REEDVILLE—William Henry “Bill” Cowardin Sr., 101, retired business and marketing manager, passed away on July 10 at his home in Reedville.
Bill was born February 22, 1925, in Richmond.
He was preceded in death by his parents, John F. Cowardin Sr. and Pauline Tremer Cowardin; his beloved wife of over 50 years, Catherine Siegfried Cowardin; his older brother, Dr. John F. Cowardin Jr.; his younger brother, Thomas C. Cowardin; his younger sister, Martha Dunn; and his infant grandson, John Paul Cowardin.
He is survived by his son, William H. Cowardin Jr. (Colleen) of Alexandria; his daughter, Mary Louise Tunget of Reston; and four grandchildren, Sage Louise Tunget, William H. Cowardin III, Christopher Michael Cowardin and Alese Nancy Cowardin.
Bill was a former resident of Richmond and Vienna prior to his move to Reedville, where he and Catherine settled full-time in 1994, after spending the previous 12 years rebuilding and improving an old waterman’s cottage on the Little Wicomico River. “Bill’s Folly” as Catherine named it, was beloved and neither ever wanted to be anyplace else.
Bill began his business career at Cowardin Jewelers and Opticians in Richmond, the firm that was founded by his grandfather W. H. Cowardin after the Civil War and subsequently managed by his father John F. Cowardin for over 40 years. After graduation from the old John Marshal High School in downtown Richmond, Bill served four years in the United States Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He returned to the family jewelry business and studied gemology but decided to leave the retail business.
He then spent over 40 years moving throughout the United States in marketing and business management roles. Prior to retiring in 1990, he was executive vice president and general manager of the 100-year-old Pennsylvania Optical and Manufacturing Company in Reading, Pa, specializing in consumer and industrial glass products and specialty government defense work.
Bill was beloved by all who knew him. He was always generous in spirit and thoughtful of those around him. As a devoted husband he provided for Catherine throughout a loving 50-year marriage that took them to New York and then California before they settled in Virginia. He cared for her tenderly before her death in August 2017. As a loving father he nurtured and mentored his children in word and by example. To everyone around him he lived by the advice he gave his children, “To have a friend you must be a friend.”
Always active in his yard and workshop, he assisted in rebuilding his own dock at the age of 100 and was still driving himself to St. Francis Catholic Church three times a week for mass until becoming ill shortly after Memorial Day weekend this year. He will be remembered and missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him.
Family and friends will be received at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 19, at the Currie Funeral Home in Kilmarnock. A Christian funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 20, at St. Francis Catholic Church in Kilmarnock, with burial in the church cemetery immediately afterwards. A reception will follow in the church hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorial contributions be made to a Catholic charity of your choosing.
