HELEN RUTH COWLEY

Helen Ruth Cowley, 83, of Jefferson City, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007, at Heisinger Bluffs Assisted Living Center. She was born on Jan. 7, 1924, in Honey Creek, Clark Township, MO, the daughter of Julius Johann and Barbara Margaretha Sommerer Engelbrecht who preceded her in death. She was married on July 23, 1949, in Jefferson City to John Arthur Cowley who died some seventeen years ago. A lifelong resident of the Jefferson City area, Helen graduated from Eugene High School and the Capitol Business College in Jefferson City. She partnered with her husband to found and operate Cowley Distributing, Inc. in 1957. The company is still family owned and operated today. She was a member of the Jefferson City Cosmopolitan Club and the Missouri Chapter of the American Business Womens Association, for which she served several terms as an officer. She traveled extensively to Europe, Canada, and all over the United States. Helen was a member of St. Joseph Cathedral Parish. She loved gardening, fishing, bird watching, hosting family barbeques and holiday parties for her family and relatives, and living in the mountains of Colorado. Survivors include six children, Barbara L. Renda, of Readington, N.J., and her husband Michael; John A. Cowley and his wife Sharon, Jerald W. Cowley and his wife Ann, and Jeffrey R. Cowley and his wife Glenda, all of Jefferson City; as well as James M. Cowley of Park City, UT; and Jayson B. Cowley and his wife, Connie, of Denver, CO; three sisters, Alma Webb, Maryann McNarie, and Betty VonderHaar; two brothers Martin Engelbrecht and LeRoy Engelbrecht; and nineteen grandchildren. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007, at St. Joseph Cathedral with the Rev. Msgr. Robert A. Kurwicki officiating. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2nd, at Dulle-Trimble Funeral Home with a prayer service at 7 p.m. Memorials are suggested to the John A. & Helen R. Cowley Scholarship Fund at Jefferson City Cosmopolitan Club. Those wishing to email tributes or condolences to the family may do so at the www.dulletrimble.com website.