
Dr. Peggy Cowen
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Peggy Delores Cowen, a Michigan native and retired northern Indiana educator, died Sept. 12 in The Villages, Fla., after a lengthy battle with cancer and dementia. She was 81.
Peggy was born Jan. 11, 1938 in Ionia, Mich., to Lewis and Eldora Cleland and graduated from Mishawaka High School. In 1956, she married Richard Lee Cowen and had three children, Steven, Stacia and Bradley.
She earned a bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree in education at Ball State University and spent her entire career as a teacher and education administrator, retiring in 1997 from Elkhart Community Schools in Elkhart, Ind.
Most of her teaching career was spent at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., where for many years she was head of the English department. She was a high school principal in the DeKalb County Eastern Community School District in Butler, Ind., and superintendent of the Pioneer Regional School Corp. in Royal Center, Ind., before joining Elkhart schools as director of curriculum and instruction. Throughout her education career she worked to improve education and improve the teaching profession.
She is survived by her husband, Richard Cowen, son Steven Cowen (wife, Diane) of Houston, Texas, daughter Stacia Andriano (husband, Fred) of Fort Wayne, Ind., and son Bradley Cowen (wife, Silvia) of Lancaster, Calif.; grandchildren Gregory Andriano, Elizabeth Andriano, Janelle Holliday (husband, Jeff), Ciara Moncada and Gabrielle and Lance Cowen; a great-granddaughter, Jocelyn Elowyn Holliday; and a brother, Ronald Cleland (wife, Judy), of Naples Fla. Her parents, Lewis and Eldora Cleland, preceded her in death.
She and Richard retired in 1997, splitting their time between a summer home on Birch Lake in Vandalia, Mich., and a winter home in The Villages, Fla. She was involved in many activities at the lake as well as in Florida, and enjoyed playing golf and shopping with friends. She traveled extensively with family and friends, enjoying trips to China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and all over Europe.
A private memorial service will be held next summer at Birch Lake. Donations may be made in her memory to the American Cancer Society or Alzheimer's Association Greater Indiana Chapter.

