Neil Cowie

Neil Cowie, 72 of Centerville passed away from a courageous fight against cancer on Saturday, July 3, 2010. Neil was born and grew up in McGivney, York County, New Brunswick, Canada. He was one of seven children. As a young boy, Neil learned what it was like to learn, serve and earn an honest days pay as a logger in the local Canadian forests.

In 1959, he was part of an exchange program between the US and Canada, working as a Dendrician for Bartlett Tree Experts in Osterville. In 1961, Neil enlisted in the Army for two years. At the end of his enlistment, he returned to Bartlett where he soon became a foreman and expert tree mover. During his Bartlett career, he transplanted thousands of trees and shrubs, improving our Cape and Islands towns, parks, highways and personal properties, not to mention the dozens of young tree workers he trained on the art of tree moving. There isn’t a street on Cape Cod or Nantucket that hasn’t been blessed by Neil’s careful and artful tree care. One such tree was a large 48-inch European beech he transplanted in 1991 at the Cape Cod Hospital, making way for the new emergency room. During the job, Neil commented that he had moved the tree once before in the 1960’s.

For decades, he was the first man to work always saying, “A fine morning for it”, and the last to leave working every day with a do-what-ever-it-takes attitude. Kind hearted and caring for hundreds of clients and their properties, he distinguished himself by being one of the first Integrated Pest Management (1PM) Monitor Technicians for the Bartlett Company and in the arboricultural industry in 1985. Knowing about each plant species and its cultural requirements was his specialty. He helped deliver and track every early Bartlett research 1PM trial for the industry in the mid- 1980’s, diminishing the use of pesticides by 97%.

A six-time winner of the Bartlett Safety Award, Neil, one of the best arborists in the Country, only had a minor accident in the field back in 1967. Every tree man on Cape Cod either trained under Neil or respected him for his vast knowledge and skill, wondering how he ever could do the work of two men and only was five foot three and 130 pounds. It was his work ethic that carried him through the good weather and bad, never missing a day to help others to help their trees and landscapes. Neil was a loving husband to Donna, and their daughter Dawn (Powell) and son-in-law Keith Powell. He loved his grandchildren Shawn and Mackenzie Powell. His Brother, Hedley and three sisters, Gladys Munn, Barb Murin, and Rena Neales, all from New Brunswick, also survive Neil. He was predeceased by his father Sterling Cowie, mother G.Irene Cowie, brother Ross Cowie and sister Joan Peterson.

Visiting hours shall be on Monday June 12th from 4 PM to 7 PM at Doane, Beale and Ames Funeral Home, 160 West Main Street, Hyannis. A reception will be held afterwards at 7:30 PM Monday, June 12th at the V.F.W. Post 2578, lyanough Road, Hyannis. Memorials in Neil’s name can be made to Cape Cod Horticultural Society, P0 Box 934, Osterville, MA, where he planted and tended so many trees. A tree will be planted in his honor at Armstrong-Kelley Park, Osterville on his birthday April 30, 2011, the day after Arbor Day.