Dr Robert H Cowing

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Dr. Robert H. Cowing, 83, a longtime resident of Williamstown, died Tuesday, April 12, 2005, from complications with pneumonia at Sweet Brook Care Centers, where he had resided for three years. He was former chief of radiology and chief of staff at North Adams Regional Hospital.

Born in Springfield on Jan. 4, 1922, son of former state Sen. William A. Cowing and Helen Shackford Cowing, he attended schools in West Springfield and graduated in 1947 from the University of Masssachusetts at Amherst. He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He also had resided in Westport Harbor and Lyford Cay, Bahamas.

An Army veteran of World War II, he was promoted to first lieutenant for his artillery work at the front while serving along the Rhine River. He was honorably discharged as a paratrooper with the rank of colonel from the 101st Airborne Division. He had first served in the calvary, then with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Dr. Cowing founded the hospital's former School of Radiologic Technology in 1958, remaining its director until his retirement in the early 1980s. He began his first year as chief of staff in 1964. During the 1950s and 1960s, he helped to establish NARH as one of the leading health care facilities of Berkshire County and was a longtime trustee. He also had serviced radiological needs of Sweet Brook for nearly 30 years.

He was an accomplished small-aircraft, instrumental flight rule (IFR) pilot, a sailor, navigator and nationally ranked tennis player.

His wife, the former Margaret Ogden, whom he married Dec. 22, 1946, in Westport Harbor, died June 10, 2001.

He leaves a son, Charles O. Cowing, and a grandson, both of New York City.

There will be a memorial service at 10:30 on Saturday, April 23, at First Congregational Church, Main Street, Williamstown, with a private burial planned for summer 2006.

Published in The Berkshire Eagle, Apr. 17, 2005

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 20 2018, 22:37:26 UTC
• Reference: U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) - SmartCopy: Mar 21 2018, 22:40:06 UTC
• Residence: Hampden, Massachusetts, USA
• Race: White, Citizen
  • Reference: World War II Reserve Corps Records - SmartCopy: Mar 21 2018, 22:40:47 UTC
• Reference: U.S. Public Records Index - SmartCopy: Mar 24 2018, 2:22:43 UTC