Obituary of Richard Cowley

Richard T. Cowley passed away on October 18, 2012 at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA at the age of 76. Richard or Dick as many of his friends knew him was born in Portland, Oregon August 5, 1936 the son of Truman Glendon and Ruth Geiger Cowley. Dick graduated from Tigard High School in Tigard, Oregon in 1954 and obtained two degrees from California Institute of Technology, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1958 and master’s degree in the same field in 1959. He worked at The Boeing Company in Seattle, Huntsville and New Orleans for 25 years on several programs including the Saturn V program. Dick then worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 31 years providing propulsion support for the in-flight operation of the Voyager, Galileo, Mars Observer, TOPEX, Cassini, Deep Space One, Mars Exploration Rover and Dawn spacecraft. Dick was an avid pilot and loved to fly the Cowley family Cessna airplane. He would often fly to Pismo and walk on the beach. He enjoyed climbing, hiking, reading, music and sailing. He also enjoyed doing the Cowley family genealogy. Dick is survived by his wife, Ann Nason Cowley. They were married 50 years this past June. He also leaves a brother Stanley Cowley of Edmonton, Canada and many cousins, nieces, nephews and many friends. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his name to a charity of their choice.