Vera Alexander Cowley

Vera Alexander Cowley was born April 1, 1919 in Lockhart, Texas to Martin Luther and Hattie Aurora (Sites) Alexander. Around the age of 16-months, Veras father died, leaving her mother dazed as she was expecting another baby. In 1921, Vera went to live with her maternal grandparents while her mother and baby brother moved to Austin because of a job. When Vera was four-years old, she got a stepfather that brought with him a son and two daughters all older than Vera. In a few years, she had another baby brother.

Vera was attending Central Baptist Church with some neighbors, and at the age of ten she accepted Jesus as her Christ and Savior. She loved going to church and spent time in the family garage reading a Bible storybook. Her life wasnt always happy and peaceful, so Vera would get to go visit her grandparents, both paternal and maternal. She was the oldest grandchild on both sides of her family, and Vera always said that she was loved.

At the beginning of her freshman year of high school, Vera and her family were quarantined for six weeks because her 3-year old niece contracted polio. The family had made it through the worse years of the Great Depression, and then to be subjected to this quarantine.

Vera worked most of her high school years at a drug store lunch counter that serviced only the female students. She was a good student, helping others with their homework, while all sitting around the family dining table. Plans were even being made for Vera to attend college. The week before Veras high school graduation, her stepfather was killed in an auto accident. Vera went to work full-time at Grand Silvers, a 5 & 10 dry good store, to help her mother make ends meet.

She fell in love with "the boy next door", George James Cowley, who was almost two years younger than Vera. They didnt start going together until he graduated from high school. The United States became involved in World War II in December 1941. Vera and George were married March 1, 1942, and George was drafted a few months later. Vera was able to visit George in Missouri while he was training, and later lived in Florida with him until he shipped out in August 1943. After Vera came back to San Antonio, she developed some health issues and had a partial hysterectomy. George didnt come home until November 1945 because plans had been made to send him to Japan to help with communication setups. Those plans were cancelled.

Vera had saved an incredible amount of money during WWII over $7,200! Even though she was sharing a bedroom with her mother, Vera paid rent and her own expenses. (The rest of her mothers house was rented out to boarders.) Vera and George were able to mortgage a house, buy furniture and a car while also loaning some money to two different relatives.

Before getting married, George was hired by Western Electric part of AT&T. The company promised him job security after the war. So after forty months in the army, George went back to his old job.

Their first child, a son, was born in December 1946 named Terry Wayne. Terry, because of the comic strip "Terry and the Pirates". In the next seven years, Vera became pregnant twice but miscarried both times during the second trimester. Then in the fall of 1954, Vera discovered she was once again pregnant. Due to medical advances, she was able to get injections in order to carry this baby to full term. A daughter, Brenda Sheryl, was born May 1955. Brenda, because of comic strip "Brenda Starr". (Vera seemed to have a thing for comic strips.)

When Vera was 37 years old, Terry was 9 and Brenda was one, Vera woke up in the night, heard thunder, and went into the kitchen to close a window. When she brought the window down, there was a really loud bang. Vera went back to bed, but the next morning she couldnt stand without losing her balance, and was also nauseous.

George put Brenda in bed with Vera, and took Terry to school. The phone rang several different times and Vera would stumble into the kitchen to answer, but no one was on the line. Finally, while holding the phone in front of her in exasperation, Vera heard her mother-in-laws voice on the line. Vera realized that she was deaf in her right ear, and took a taxi to the doctor. It was never determined what actually happened to Veras right ear, but nothing could ever be done to enable her to utilize that ear.

George was doing quite well in his job becoming a supervisor. Vera went back to work in the fall of 1967 for Dillards, a department store. She always enjoyed working retail. After a few years, she went to work for San Antonio Independent School District as a teachers aide/clerk.

Vera and George decided, after twenty-five years in the same house, to build their "dream" house on the other side of town. They moved in Halloween weekend 1971. Because it was on the other side of San Antonio, the family moved their membership to Parkhills Baptist. After about 42 years, Vera left Central Baptist. Vera and George were both active at Parkhills, volunteering in several capacities.

Life was busy, but good. Terry had married Minette Harrod, and was serving in the Air Force in Massachusetts. Brenda was a high school junior. Trips were made to Massachusetts, but there was still the annual pilgrimage to Corpus Christi because Vera loved the oceanand surf fishing.

April 1974 found Terry, Minette, and one year old Elise back in Texas Lake Jackson, actually. Brenda was a freshman at Southwest Texas State University. Vera got the phone call that George had suffered from an apparent heart attack. After arriving in Austin where George had been working, Vera learned that he had died very quickly from a heart attack.

After thirty-two years of marriage, Vera was alone. She knew she really wasnt alone for she continued to pray to God for comfort and strength. Life went on, and in 1985, she met up with an old acquaintance from the 1930sCharles Hancock. Vera had a very close relationship with him until his death in the fall of 2003 though she never wanted to marry him.

After several deaths of relatives and friends, Vera decided to move to Midland where Brenda lived. So in January 2004, a few months shy of her 85th birthday, Vera set out on a new adventure. Vera was a Baptist through and through, so she decided to join First Baptist instead of attending church with Brendas family. Vera, not being one to sit on her laurels, became active in her Sunday School class, and also volunteered at the church sponsored crisis center. It reminded Vera of her days of working retail.

Vera wanted to stay active because she said it made her sleep better. So she went to Brendas house almost every day, while Brenda was at work, and cleaned the kitchen from the previous day! Vera also liked to visit the "old people" from her church. She stayed pretty active for many years.

Through the years when a comment was made about someones sour disposition or negative outlook, Vera would say, "theyve had a hard life". When reminded that she, too, had had a hard life, Vera would respond, "but I always knew I was loved". Brenda never really thought about that statement until the last couple of yearsand believes that Vera was referring to Gods never ending love.

The time finally came when Vera realized she should stop drivingshe was 101! Then after experiencing some equilibrium problems, Vera decided she couldnt live independently any longerat 102! After falling and breaking her hip, Vera declined rapidly. On Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 2:15 pm, Vera left her earthly body and went to her heavenly reward where George and many others loved ones were there to greet her.