Brenda, Freddie Cowan Inducted to Wall of Fame

 

Two outstanding Union County High School graduates were honored Friday afternoon when they were inducted into the school district’s Wall of Fame. Freddie Cowan and his sister, the late Brenda Cowan, were honored for their contributions to the school, the community and for their achievements after graduating from UCHS.

Lt. Brenda Cowan, who graduated from UCHS in 1981, died in the line of duty serving with the Lexington Fire Department. Freddie Cowan graduated from UCHS in 1977 and went on to play basketball at the University of Kentucky where he was a member of the 1978 NCAA Championship team.
According to information gathered about the Cowan siblings, their sister Helen attributes their success to their parents, who led by example. Their father was a minister who would not cancel church on Wednesday night even if UK was playing and Freddie was on the floor. Brenda was a neat, tidy, almost-perfect child, but was also adventurous and loved children. She, too, played basketball for UCHS, but she dreamed of being a firefighter--that was her passion, and that dream was fulfilled.

On Friday, Assistant Fire Chief Rick Jordan of the Lexington Fire Department gave more insight to the person Lt. Brenda Cowan was. Jordan told the UCHS student body, “I knew Brenda before she became a firefighter. (When she expressed interest) she asked the typical questions, but her service was more than a “typical fit.”

Jordan recalled seeing Lt. Cowan progress through her career working with engine companies on the south side of Lexington.

“Brenda was different,” he recalled. She served for 12 years, beginning in January 1992 as an EMT/firefighter for the city. “She worked very diligently with Engine Companies 7 and 16--she proved herself, serving as a driver, a pumper and a leader,” Jordan noted. Brenda’s career also led her to serve on the department’s recruitment panel and to work with the Junior Fire Chief Program. She was also responsible for completing background checks and investigations on all incoming personnel.

In determining what made Lt. Cowan special, Jordan said he searched her personnel file which was filled with stacks and stacks of accolades. Those letters and memos reported a person of compassion, one with a positive attitude and one who was caring--all positive comments on a woman who did a job she loved.

Jordan continued, “Brenda understood that nothing takes the place of persistence. She said at academy graduation, “I want an exciting job where I can make a difference”--she did this--she was selfless--she made a difference to all humanity. That’s what made Brenda (Badge number 324) different. Thanks to her family for sharing Brenda with us (Lexington Fire Department).”

Jordan and the Lexington Fire Department Color Guard took part in the unveiling of a shadow box filled with mementos of Lt. Brenda Cowan. That box, which holds her work boots, will hang in the halls of UCHS as an inspiration to other students to achieve their dreams.

Freddie Cowan took a different path than his sister--although both found their ways to Lexington, Freddie’s path was to the University of Kentucky where he played basketball for the Wildcats. He is still listed as one of UK’s top 100 Wildcats. He was a freshman when the team won the NCAA Championship. In 1979-80 Cowan was named to the All-NCAA team and later was drafted by the Houston Rockets. His career then took him to Japan where he played basketball for seven years and coached for three years. The former Union Countian now lives in Trinidad.

Cowan was in attendance Friday, but before he spoke, his high school coach Ernie Simpson recalled some of Cowan’s high school highlights. “Some of my most exciting times happened right here (in the UCHS gym).” Simpson recognized men whom he coached with including David Curtis and Gerald Tabor who attended Friday’s ceremony before recalling some of Cowan’s outstanding moments of high school play. Simpson recalled taking the team to Webster County for district play and sitting Cowan out the first quarter because he wasn’t feeling well. Cowan did play three quarters that night and scored 40 points Simpson said. He also recalled a player who often got in foul trouble, one who was in foul trouble in a regional final game against Henderson County. When Cowan reentered the game, he blocked a final shot that would give Henderson County the victory--that blocked shot earned Union County a trip to the state tournament in 1977.

“Today is a proud day for Freddie and his family,” Simpson noted before inviting Cowan to address the crowd.

In his remarks, Cowan thanked the school district for the honor, and the thanked the Lexington Fire Department for being in attendance and recognizing his sister.

Cowan told the students, “It’s an honor to be here. As you grow older, you take nothing for granted. My journey started in Sturgis near One Eyed Ridge. I attribute my success to my father--he had some strict rules and I didn’t like them at all--I had to be home (at night) when the street lights came on and in the winter they came on at 4:30 (in the afternoon)-- and we had to go to church, but if you didn’t go, you stayed home on Sunday. He and my mother taught me humility.”

Cowan continued, “it was at UK I learned to love the game, but it (basketball at Kentucky) was big business--at Union County it was pure joy.”

Cowan also recalled that his strength on the ball court came from “packing” buckets of coal everyday after practice, and although he didn’t want to leave home, he went to Lexington and worked his first summer on the assembly line at Rockwell International. “I found out that wasn’t for me,” he said.

At UK, Cowan said he learned to be tough and not to quit. “Life is going to kick your butt—you’ll have bad days, you’ll have good days--but you have to get up and keep going. Anything is possible. There’s nothing wrong with getting knocked down, but you always have to get up.”

After graduating from UK Cowan went to Japan, a place where he saw no empty spaces, no countryside, no animals, no farm land. It took a few years, but he finally grew accustomed to the culture and took advantage of the opportunities afforded him. His travels took him to many Asian countries as well as to Europe. It was during those travels that Cowan saw the number of homeless in Bangkok, an event that “opened his eyes.” When he returned to the United States, Cowan opened his own screen printing business and later when in to the mortgage business. When the mortgage industry declined, he moved to France and later to Switzerland the to Africa, but he never forgot the lessons he learned as a child in Union County and he came back, bringing the professional basketball team he was coaching to play against the Union County girls’ team coached by Gerald Tabor.

It was Tabor, Cowan said who pushed him to play basketball. “I’ve never said thank you before-I took things for granted,” Cowan noted in recognizing his former coaches Tabor, David Curtis, Simpson and Garland Certain. “They took an interest in me and pushed me, something I’ve realized later in life.” He recalled Tabor convincing him he could make something of himself, and noted that Tabor and Coach Richardson of Western Kentucky University coming to him and telling him of the opportunities that lay ahead.

To the student body, Cowan emphasized- “Education, Education, Education--it will change your life--I can’t stress that enough. There’s nothing waiting for you without an education but a jail house.”

He also urged student to pay attention to teachers, pay attention in class—“Your education is the most important thing you’ll get in your lifetime. It’s a rough road without an education.”

“In life you have to make sacrifices to get what you want out of life,” Cowan noted. He concluded his remarks by thanking the selection committee, “I’m really honored to be here, don’t take anything for granted--treat your parents with respect and stay in school.”