Leonard Warren Cowan

Leonard passed away peacefully on September 19, 2008 due to complications of Alzheimer's disease. Leonard was born to Cleo and Wayland Cowan on November 6, 1928 in Sparta, Missouri. As a hard working and ambitious young man he left for Washington state and worked the fields along side is his father until earning enough to reach his long desired destination, southern California. Working in a grocery store and as an auto mechanic, he desired a secure trade. He was raising a young family by that time and attended welding school at night.as he was He was then able to join the local Millwrights Union and began working throughout southern California, which lead him to Kaiser Steel, Fontana for many years. The closing of the plant was a long process and his was the last crew to perform the final mechanical shut down operations. Every other worker having been laid off as work decreased, Leonard and his boss were the last two men to lock the gate for the final time. He went on to work for area contractors running their projects. In 1968, with two partners he founded what was later be to known throughout the Inland Empire as Trade West Engineering, Inc. who employed many hundreds of workers over the years. Giving many their start in their own businesses. Leonard later bought out his partners and ran the company until retiring in 1993.

Leonard was an avid golfer and fisherman who spent a lot of time at local courses with his longtime golf buddies and on Lake Havasu, Lake Mead and the Colorado River. Leonard was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Patricia A. Cowan of thirty three years and his brother Eugene Cowan. He is survived by his daughters Carla R. Bennett, Gail L. Sanders, Janice S. Halliburton Kristi Jones, sister Carolyn Scanlon, eight grand children and eleven great grandchildren.

Services on Thursday September 24, 2015 at 11:00 am at Bellevue Memorial Park, 1240 West G Ontario, Ca 92762. In lieu of flowers, donation can be made to the Alzheimer's Research Association at: alz.org or any animal rescue non-profit organization in Leonard's name.