Phil C
12-20-2004, 05:28 PM
This was a man that had much influence on me as a child and young man. He was our neighbor and lived across the street from us in Freer, Texas in the 1950s and 60s. He lettered on the three Aggie football teams from 1939 - 1941. He still holds the Javaline record for Freer High School and that district. (He won it the first year they had it and the next year due to a tragic accident it was discontinued.) The Aggie Teams he was on won a national championship and only lost three games during the years he played there (freshmen couldn't play then). During his last year there besides playing football he was the coach at A&M Consolidated High School and the team was regional champions that year. In 1942 he was commissioned in the Army Air Corps and was one of the first ones to be on B-29 planes which were considered great planes at the time. During WW2 he flew 28 combat missions over Japan and on VJ day his crew dropped supplies to P.O.W. camps. He owned and operated Freer Iron Works in Freer for 39 years and then retired to Austin. He was a deacon in the Baptist Church. He had four children and three are surviving and obtained college degrees and are successful in their careers. His eldest son Jeff Cowley died in Vietnam in 1971 fighting for his country. I participated in track with his second son John. A street in Freer is named for Jeff. Mr. Cowley passed away in 1999 but had a big impact on my life and others that knew him and we all have and positive memories. He didn't start on those great Aggie teams but did play enough to letter and was an outstanding person. Just some information for you about an outstanding person that sometimes we never hear about but know are there.