Nita Cowan (Tulia)

Tulia, Texas— Nita Cowan, 78, died Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at her residence. Celebration of Life Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, August 8, 2009 in the First United Methodist Church with Rev. Kay Reed and Rev. Ernie McGaughey officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery under the direction of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Tulia. Nita was born July 6, 1931 in Petersburg. She moved to Tulia in 1942 and graduated from Tulia High School in 1948. She attended North Texas State and graduated from Texas Tech in 1952 with a B.S. degree in Zoology. She married Joe Cowan on November 23, 1952 in Tulia. She later attended West Texas State where she received her teaching certificate. She taught 7th grade Life Sciences at Tulia Junior High for 24 years. During that time she touched the lives of many students and introduced them to the beauty of the natural world. She was reverently known as the “Bug Lady” to many because of the multitude of insect collections and field trips she required of her students. Nita received awards too numerous to mention, but include mother of the Year, Teacher of the Year, and Woman of the Year. She was very involved in her church, First United Methodist Church, serving as Senior Youth director with Joe, her husband, and as Sunday school teacher of various grades until her death. Her natural spirit and encouraging words will be missed by her family and all those who knew her. Survivors include her husband, Joe Cowan of Tulia, one daughter: Tamra Boteler of Midlothian, three sons: Mark Cowan of Taos, NM, Todd Cowan of Ft. Worth, and Scott Cowan of Sidney, Nebraska, one brother Hawk Kreig of Hereford and 9 grandchildren. The family requests memorials be made to the First United Methodist Church, 110 N. Briscoe, Tulia, TX 79088 or to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312 or online at www.diabetes.org/secure/donation.