Glen John Peter Kowbel

Left to mourn his passing and cherish his memory are his mother, Kathy Herman, brother Evan Kowbel and son Xavier Kowbel. He was predeceased by his father, Glen Kowbel, his uncle, Karl Herman, grandparents, Bernice and Doug Herman and Cecile Kowbel.

Glen had an easy-going disposition almost as soon as he came into the world. As a toddler, he was a real card, happy and laughing all the time. He loved the toys of his generation such as Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, Spider-Man (generally all superheroes) and playing Video Games.

In his teen years and beyond, he was very polite, friendly and helpful to others. His amusing, pleasant and quite unique personality touched many. He had many interests, including, cooking and barbequing (his taste was always spicy; the hotter the better) and baking (which began when Mom gave him the recipe for banana bread passed down from his Great-Grandmother). He also loved his Pizza! When he would make it from scratch he would pile the toppings on so high! He had a lot of fun playing Video Games, Board Games, Online Backgammon (which he played with people from all over the world), watching documentaries and docudramas and action and superhero movies.

He loved just chilling and cuddling with his cat “Snotch” while reading for hours online educating himself and exploring new and different facts and ideas. He spent time building a garden and growing all kinds of vegetables and herbs, many of which he used in recipes he invented himself or ones he put his own spin on. The family cottage at Gull Lake was very memorable and important to him. He loved swimming, boating and building campfires. For that matter, he was quite the “fire bug”. He enjoyed woodworking when he took it up in school and build a few nice pieces, including a free-standing cabinet and a double Adirondak chair.

He got excited at Christmas time and Halloween. He was almost obsessive when it came to decorating.

He was most happy, however, being with his son, Xavier, whom he loved very much and had many special times with. They were both passionate about Lego and they built many grand, extravagant Lego pieces together.

He entered the insulating trade and was a member of the Heat & Frost Insulators Union, which sometimes took him to various cities and communities. In between insulating jobs he worked at Overhead Door for a period of time and he also took various odd jobs in the construction industry.

Unfortunately, over the past year or so, Glen had difficulty disciplining himself and seemed unable or unwilling to come to terms with his misgivings and focus on doing what was best for him in the long run despite the urging and advice from us and from his friends. We wish to thank all those who tried to help him especially when he was hurting with no clear direction in his life. The support you showed him in his times of need and uncertainty, no matter how little or how great, has meant the world to us.

We hope to hold a Celebration of Life in the foreseeable future, but this has yet to be arranged. The particulars will follow in due course.

If friends wish, donations in Glen’s memory may be made to organizations involved with addiction and/or mental health research or program.

We know it wasn’t easy for you and we want you to know that we love you very, very much.