NEWTON — Shirley Dickinson Cowan, 96, retired teacher, died Monday, Feb. 28, 2005. Shirley Cowan was born Sept. 28, 1908, at Russell, to Willis David Beller and Mary Stella Newcomer Beller. In January 1931, she married Robert Leland Dickinson and lived on the Dickinson homestead in northeast Ellis County. After his death in 1953, she continued to manage the farm and teach until her move to Great Bend in 1959. After her retirement from teaching in 1972, she married Dennis W. Cowan and lived in Ellinwood. The Cowans moved to Friendly Acres, a Methodist Retirement Village, in 1988. Dennis Cowan died in 1992. In her early years, Mrs. Cowan taught in rural schools in Ellis and Russell County. She was also a teacher in Natoma and Great Bend. During her lifetime, she was active in church and civic affairs. She was a former member of the United Brethren Church in Russell, Presbyterian churches in Fairport and Great Bend and the Methodist Church in Ellinwood. She was a current member of the Salem Methodist Church in Newton. She was a longtime 4-H club leader, a member of Federated Clubs in Natoma, Great Bend and Ellinwood, and was active in the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a charter member of the Ellinwood Senior Center and set up and directed Meals on Wheels in Ellinwood. Survivors include: son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Jan Dickinson of Gorham; daughters and sons-in-law, Karen and Ray Ganoung of Hoisington and Margaret and George Beyer of Wichita; and daughter, Janet Nordlund of Elkhorn, Neb. Stepchildren include Wendell and Rosie Cowan of Lucas, Marian and Ora Cowan of Arkansas, Vernon and P.J. Cowan of Oregon and Elie and Dale Williams of Council Grove. There are also 20 grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Also surviving are brothers Willis Leon Beller of Topeka, Robert Beller of Lincoln, Neb., and George Beller of Denver, Colo.; and sisters, Laurine Gordon of Wichita, Rachel Daughtery of Vallejo, Calif., and Marjorie Gross of Denver, Colo. Services will be held at Natoma Methodist Church at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 7. Burial will be at Natoma Cemetery. A memorial service at Friendly Acres Chapel in Newton will be announced at a later date. Friends may call at Peterson Funeral Home from 1 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Friendly Acres and Salem Methodist Church in Newton; Ellinwood Methodist Church and Ellinwood Senior Center in Ellinwood. Funeral arrangements provided by Peterson Funeral Home, 215 N. Main Newton, KS 67114 316-283-2525 Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune March 3, 2005
March 2, 2005.