Elizabeth Cowan

Elizabeth J. Cowan, 87, of Chambersburg, passed away on Monday, November 21, 2016 in Penn Hall. Born on November 21, 1929 in Wilkes-Barre, PA, she was a daughter of the late Walter Smith and Marie Dunn Smith. Elizabeth worked for many years for the Department of the Navy, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, where she later served as the Executive Secretary to the Surgeon General. While in Washington, D.C. she married Paul Schilling who later passed away on May 5, 1951. In 1970 Elizabeth married Dr. John Stephen Cowan and accompanied him to live in Saigon, S. Vietnam where he supervised a humanitarian effort to build hospitals and train medical doctors. Afterwards, Elizabeth and John lived in Mecosta, Michigan until John’s death on February 29, 2000. Elizabeth was a member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church. She will be deeply missed, and she will be remembered as a very generous person, involving herself with countless charities throughout her lifetime. She is survived by three children, Mary Kay Cowan, Anne Stevenot, and John Cowan, as well as 5 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Viewing hours will be held from 3:30 – 5:30 PM on Monday, December 5, 2016 in the Thomas L. Geisel Funeral Home, 333 Falling Spring Road, Chambersburg. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 6, in Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 320 Philadelphia Avenue, Chambersburg, PA 17201, with the Rev. Fr. Brian Olkowski officiating. Interment will be held at 2:00 PM later that day in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Silver Spring, MD. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Corpus Christi Church at the above address.