Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Cowan, 76, of North Aurora died unexpectedly at Provena Mercy Medical Center, Aurora Wednesday, August 31, 2005.
She was born in Elgin, IL on February 28, 1929. Her mother, unable to care for her five children in the desperate times of the Great Depression, was forced to give Mary up for adoption at the age of three. Her prayers were answered when Lillian and Roland Hoyt of Elburn became Mary's parents. Although tragedy would strike again as Mary's adopted father died when she was six, Mary was blessed with a wonderful mother and an aunt and uncle, Anne Fairbanks and Halsey Weaver, who took her into their hearts and homes. Except for a brief time in Massachusetts, Mary grew up in Elburn. Her family was able to spend most winters in Florida where Mary attended school as well. She attended high school at the Frances Shimer Boarding School in Mt. Carroll, IL. After graduation, Mary followed the career footsteps of her aunt, Anne Fairbanks, and enrolled in the nursing school at Northwestern Illinois University, Evanston, IL. In the years following, Mary worked for a time at a children's hospital in St. Petersburg, FL, and later at Copley Hospital, Aurora, the DuPage County Health Department, and Provena Mercy Medical Center, Aurora.
She began dating William Cowan while working at Copley and on June 11, 1960, they were wed at St. Gall Church, Elburn. They lived in an apartment on Downer Place until 1964, when they moved to the present family home in North Aurora on July 1 of that year. Mary left nursing to raise her family, but her heart and hands found dozens of other ways to care throughout the community. When her children were young, she was active in both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, as well as the Goodwin School PTA, North Aurora, the Messenger Public Library Board, and the North Aurora Garden Club. Her efforts were recognized in 1987, when the North Aurora Lion's Club honored her with the "North Auroran of the Year" Award.
Betty also had a gift for music and loved singing in the Fox Valley Festival Chorus, which performed at the 1984 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN. In 1980, she was one of the founding members of the Tunes of Glory Pipe Band, in which she was still active. She also played the Indian Wind Flute and guitar. For a time, Betty directed the children's choir at Blessed Sacrament Church where she served as organist as well. She was also a skilled artist and produced many paintings. Her artistry combined with her writing talents to produce several children's stories which she both authored and illustrated. Her joy in writing spilled over into the founding of a writers group through which Mary encouraged and guided other area authors. Mary also kept a journal of her daily life and her many endeavors. To those words she added well-organized picture albums that faithfully chronicled the lives of her family and friends.
Her hands never idle, Betty loved to sew and to garden. She sewed everything from kilts to curtains, canned hundreds of jars of garden produce and even created ketchup from scratch. Betty decorated cakes professionally, creating delicious and beautiful wedding cakes and tasty petit-fours. Always making things beautiful, she took up the laborious art of Ukrainian Egg decorating and formed a group to teach others as well.
In June she discovered that she had colon cancer. Following successful surgery, she pursued chemotherapy, just to be sure. Although the process rapidly depleted her physically, she persisted with the determination and confidence that was so characteristic of everything she did. Tragically, she was stricken with a serious infection that suddenly took her from the midst of family and friends. Betty will be missed, but her memory will live on through all who were touched by her love and kindness.
