Virginia McClellan McCowen departed this world on Friday evening after a very brief illness enjoying 90 vibrant years and a family who adored her. She was born in 1922 in Enid, Oklahoma and retained much of the independence and resilience of the pioneer west. Moving to Lookout Mountain, TN, she attended the Girls Preparatory School (GPS) where she made lifelong friends; however, it was Macon with which she fell in love, attending Wesleyan College and graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1944. Upon graduation, she took a job in the President’s office and began dating her husband of 59 years, William W. (Bill) McCowen, who won her heart with a tennis trophy full of his mother’s pink roses. In 2005 her family gave the bridge spanning Wesleyan’s pond in her honor, and it bears her name to commemorate.
Virginia and Bill purchased their beloved property on Old Club Road in 1950, and its care and development proved to be a lifelong hobby and occupation. Raising their family, growing their vegetables, caring for their camellias, weeding and the never ending interaction with pine cones provided them with exercise and communion with God and nature. Gina has maintained the tradition since Bill’s death in 2005 and was so engaged until the week before her death.
She was active in the Junior League of Macon, serving as its president in 1961-62, the Wesleyan Alumnae Association, serving as its president from 1958 – 1961, The History Club, The Idle Hour Sewing Club, Christ Episcopal Church and various Bible Studies to name a few of her community interests. She supported Bill in the Macon Rotary Club as the secretary to the Secretary, producing the weekly bulletin on her Selectric typewriter for 28 years.
She was an avid reader of fiction and philosophy and never without a crossword puzzle, but her time was increasingly spent as the unofficial spiritual guide and Christian counselor to so many who came to her for wisdom, comfort and advice. Her joy and quick wit was magnetic, and her big smile and spontaneous laugh infectious. Her life was truly a tribute to her efforts to live close to her Lord.
She is survived by daughters, Dr. Murray McCowen Sellers (George) of Greenwood, SC and Doris McCowen Muir (Jeff) of Atlanta; grandchildren, Dr. Wendy Sellers Campbell (Bill), Dr. Kathleen Sellers Hughes (Mark), Virginia Muir Johnson (Clete), Travis McCowen Muir (Rita), and Scott Shepard Muir; great-grandchildren, Lucy Campbell, Sally Campbell, and Andy Hughes; sister, Sally Currey (Brad) of Atlanta.
The family would like to welcome you to an informal gathering from 5 until 7 PM Friday in the parlor of Idle Hour Golf & Country Club. A private memorial service will be held on Sunday, May 26, 2013 in Rose Hill Cemetery. Donations may be made to Wesleyan College, 4760 Forsyth Road, Macon 31210 or Christ Episcopal Church, 582 Walnut Street, Macon 31201 or Joyce Meyer Ministries, or the Humane Society of your choice.
Visit www.snowsmacon.com to express tributes.
Snow’s Memorial Chapel Funeral & Cremation Services, Cherry Street, has charge of arrangements.
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