Contributions to the tribute of William Robert Cowling

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Monday, March 18, 2019

MY DAD I think this is one of those times, much like your wedding when despite your extreme hatred for public speaking, you make a concession…because there are things that you want to say and there are limited chances to say them. So bear with me through my shaky voice, my tears, and maybe my need to even sit down, while I say some things I need to say. First of all, because I might not be able to say it at the end, thank you all for being here today for my family and I. There are many people who couldn’t come today…my dad had only moved to Jordan less than a year ago and many of his good friends and family members are in Oshawa, Peterborough, Barrie, Vancouver, Florida, etc. Some also are not in good health today and have sent their condolences. It has meant so much to me personally over the past week to have received such support from my family, my mom Beth, Jesse, Donna and Linda and so many friends. My amazing friends who have brought meals, cheered me up, gave me hugs, sent flowers, made unlimited offers of assistance, sent heartwarming messages, came to visit and take me to dinner – I have never been so grateful and you will never understand how much it has meant to me. Thank you all. My dad was a wonderful man. I think having two daughters brought out the best in him. He was always a very loving man who always gave hugs and kisses and said “I love you” every single time we talked or saw each other. We had never-ending tickle fights and forehead fights as children, and spent hours playing catch and practicing baseball. When I was about 7 yrs old (I think), my dad thought it would be great if I played hockey (part of his internal wish for a son, I’m sure), so he decided to coach a hockey team. He put me on the team of course, thinking that I would be pretty good, as I had always taken figure skating. I failed miserably at our first few practices and I was also the only girl on the team. In the end we agreed that it would be better if I was on the bench and became the manager….I got pretty good at doing the doors in case any members of the Blades team wants to make note of that for future reference. He had a love for hockey all his life and played it till his knees didn’t let him anymore. He made many lifelong friends from his OldTimers hockey team that he has to this day. He (understandably) lost faith in the Leafs for a number of years and when he was living out in Vancouver fell in love with the Canucks. In the past few years he really loved seeing the Leafs come back to life and it was so great to talk about all of the games with him. He was so excited to see them go for the Cup this year. I know he’ll be watching. His favourite hockey player in this whole world was Julian. He was so, so proud of him and loved coming to the games that he could. He saw some of J’s best breakaways and defensive plays and would go on for hours about them. Just like Brett and I, my dad knows that Julian will be drafted in the next few years and will go on to be one of the top defensemen in the NHL. Actually I have an LOL after that sentence. But boy did it ever bring a lot of joy to my dad to watch him play. Before I was a thought – my dad spent much time in his early 20’s in the music scene. He worked for Warner Music, had a late night radio show out of Sault Ste. Marie and was a concert promoter in Toronto. He had some wonderful stories about those years that I could listen to over and over and over again. He met many great musicians including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt, The Good Brothers, Carlos Santana. Before the band Rush made it, he was asked to be their manager and turned it down because he hated their music…still does to this day, but jeez that was a bad decision. My dad loved music so much and it was something our family always had – songs that we would all play in good times and bad. He had an amazing record collection and Jesse and I probably know more music from the 70’s than a lot of baby boomers do. A lot of the favourites we are playing today, but there are so so many more. We were lucky to go to some great concerts in recent years together…it was funny to see how some of the performers had aged and didn’t have what they used to, but some of the shows were really great. We saw the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band a few months ago and it was a great night. My hippy parents got together and I was born when they were in their mid-20’s. I did inherit a couple of things from my dad, most notably his eyes. Oh, that was autocorrect there – it should read, I inherited his thighs. (And his sense of humour ha ha ha). My sister Jesse was born 5 years later. We had ups and downs, like many families did…times were tough and one of our songs was Danny’s Song and we would sing “even though we ain’t got money, I’m so in love with ya honey” on a regular basis. My parents stayed together for 23 years and when they split up they had a “separation party”, because they didn’t want the friends they had made over the years to feel that they needed to choose between them…they were the gwenyth Paltrow and Chris Martin of their time – not that they even know who they are. In this past year, my dad came to live in the same house as my mom again (separate apartments mind you), almost 23 years after they split, as my dad needed to move this way so that he could have more help with his health issues. During these last months, my mom was a great help to my dad and he actually sent me a text jokingly asking me to ask her to stay and not go to Florida this month…he even said he needed her. We laughed about the irony of this, but it was really a full circle moment that I will appreciate forever. My dad loved street rods and anything to do with cars. He had some beauties in his day, and when we were kids the family would spend the summers going from car show to car show, either in the 55 chevy with flames on the hood and side and fuzzy dice on the rearview or the deep red 57 Merc, as part of the Peterborough chapter of the Canadian Street Rod association. Such fun times, again with many lifelong friends. In later years, my family bought a sailboat and my dad loved being out on the open water in our boat that we had a couple names for, Peaceful Easy Heelin’ and Wastin’ Away Again. He would often get together with his buddies, James, Chris and Marty as they too loved sailing. As difficult as today is, I am sure that this is what my dad would have wanted – he wouldn’t have wanted a stuffy funeral. Sitting, drinking beer, eating any kind of red meat, telling funny stories and listening to good music is what he wanted. As most of you know, my dad had a terminal lung disease and he was very worried about what the future was going to bring for him in terms of that. He spoke about the fact that “going quickly” would be a blessing and I can say with honesty that this was a blessing – he did not suffer at all and that is the only thing that my family and I could have wished for. There is never enough time, there is never enough opportunity to say the things you want to say, and do the things you planned to do. But I can say that my dad was in a good place. He had a wonderful Christmas, he was in contact with many people who were very important to him, he had a great time posting and communicating with people on line and making them laugh as much as he could, he loved living out in Jordan and the peacefulness of it, he spent a lot of recent quality time with his family, and despite his concern about his future, he was happy. There are so many more things that I could say today and more memories that I could talk about forever. And I hope I (we) do. My sister and I loved our dad with all of our hearts and we will miss him so much – there will be a huge hole for us for so long. Please remember our dad with fondness and laughs, the way we will.

T

Ted Wiggins posted a condolence

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Rest in Peace Bill, I know you and Danny will be having a chuckle about now and possibly a few brews while cheering those Leafs On!......Bye for Now Old Friend!

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Paul Ireland posted a condolence

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Rest In Peace old friend and be sure to say Hi to Steve (Whitehead) and others from the old gang. You will be sorely missed by your friends and family.

D

David Banks posted a condolence

Friday, February 1, 2019

I remember Bill from grade 9 as a friendly and funny guy. That was 57 years ago so he really made a good impression on me. He must have been a wonderful and well loved member of his extended family

William Robert Cowling

1946 - 2019

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