Helen Anne Buck Cowley died December 7, 2020. She was 92 years old. She lived on her beloved property in Patrick County, Virginia until 2 weeks before her death. She and her husband fed countless birds and deer and also fed the family and many friends with the vegetables grown in their large garden.
Helen was born in Washington, DC to Helen Walker Monroe Buck and The Right Reverend Calvert Egerton Buck. She attended Hannah More Academy in Maryland and business college. She held many interesting and challenging positions during her career, including her work as a Red Cross ambulance driver who transported World War II servicemen in the Washington area. While working as an ambulance driver, she met her husband of nearly 60 years, Douglas Frank Cowley, who was a United States Navy Corpsman. Helen also worked as a bookkeeper, office manager, small business owner, and a bookmobile librarian for the Patrick County Library in Stuart, Virginia. She loved her job with the library because it allowed her to share her love of books and reading even though it required her to drive the bookmobile on winding mountain roads in all weather, including ice and snow.
Helen has been a dedicated and tireless volunteer her entire life. She was honored as the first female to receive the Silver Fawn Award from the Tidewater Council, Boy Scouts of America, for her efforts as a den leader, trainer, and organizer of new packs and dens. She was also honored for her many years of service as a Girl Scout Leader. In the 1970s, she offered the girls in her troops extraordinary opportunities for travel and outdoor experiences. She drove her troop on a month-long camping trip around the United States with a week at National Center West in Wyoming. She also was one of the leaders who escorted 30 girl scouts from the Tidewater, Virginia area on a wider opportunity to England and Switzerland, where the scouts lived with host families. She taught the scouts planning, fundraising, and hard work as they earned all of the funds for these trips by running recycling drives and car washes.
After retirement, Helen redoubled her volunteer efforts. She was one of the co-founders of the Patrick County Alzheimer’s Group and worked weekly in the group’s office until shortly before her death. She helped countless families adjust to life with a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s as well as helping organize many fundraising activities and providing necessary medical supplies and equipment for those in need. She was a weekly volunteer at the Landmark Center assisted living facility and the Blue Ridge Nursing Center in Stuart, Virginia where she hosted Cooking with Helen and a news hour.
Helen has also been honored for her 40 plus years of dedicated service to the Moorefield Store Community Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary, where she provided assistance and leadership with fundraising projects.
Helen was devoted to her family. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her brother, William Charles Buck. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Cynthia Cowley of Patrick Springs, VA; her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Barbara Cowley of Buffalo Springs, VA; her daughter and partner, Anne Cowley Brennan and Dr. Jeffrey Todd of Summerfield, NC;her granddaughter and fiance, Claire Brennan and Colin Leslie, of Atlanta, GA; and her granddaughter, Hannah Brennan of Charlottesville, VA.
Please send any memorial donations to the Patrick County Alzheimer’s Group LLC, PO Box 1301, Stuart, VA 24171 or the Moorefield Store Community Volunteer Fire Department, 17 VA/NC Road, Spencer, VA 24165.
Moody Funeral Services in Stuart, VA is serving the Cowley family. Please share remembrances and condolences at www.moodyfuneralservices.com. The family will hold a private service.
