Remembering Cap Cowan

Two gatherings, Saturday, May 5, and Sunday, May 6, were fine tributes to Caspar F. Cowan, who passed away Dec. 23, 2006, in Seattle, Wash.

“Cap,” as he was known to his many friends, was a longtime resident of Portland. He died at a hospice facility in Seattle, where his daughter, Joanna Allen, resides. He was 91.

He was a graduate of Deering High School, Bowdoin College and Harvard Law School. He was an expert in Maine real estate law and authored Maine Real Estate Law and Practice, which became the standard text for Maine real estate practitioners.

Cap said in later years that his proudest achievement was his service in the 87th Mountain Infantry, which later became the 10th Mountain Division, in the north Apennines of Italy. There, in February 1945, as a staff sergeant, he led a squad in a night assault on Mount Belvedere, the key to all roads in the Po Valley. During the course of one night, he saved his squad from death, helping neutralize a German machine gun emplacement. He received a battlefield commission to second lieutenant. The Army awarded him the Bronze Star in May 1945.

Upon returning to civilian life, he entered partnership in the Portland law firm of Linnell, Perkins, Thompson, Hinckley & Thaxter. In 1946 he married Nancy Linnell; she predeceased him in 1994. They had three children, Joanna Allen of Seattle, June Roelle of Wheaton, Ill, and a son, Seth of New London, Wis. Survivors include his sister, Cynthia Dunlop of Orono, sister-in-law, Norma Cowan, of Belfast, brother-in-law, Robert Linnell, of Selah, Wash., and six grandchildren. His brother, Douglas, predeceased him.

Cap’s father, Frank I. Cowan, was Maine attorney general. His mother, Helen Caspar Cowan, was affiliated with Bates College for many years.

The Military Honors Service held May 5 at the Linnell lot in Evergreen Cemetery was a memorable occasion, with the Department of Veterans Affairs chaplain officiating.

Before the ceremony began, a young lady, dressed in Scottish attire, marched slowly back and forth at the foot of the sloping lawn beyond the gravesite, playing the bagpipes. She also played again after the military ceremony was completed. It was a pleasure to hear her addition to the ceremony. Assisting the chaplain were two of the veterans group reading part of the service. The ceremony ended with a bugler playing taps.

I had not attended such a service before, and found it very moving.

The May 6 party at the Woodlands Club in Falmouth, “A Celebration of Life,” was a memorable time for the guests. The large room, with many windows, had several large tables. Giving tributes and memories were members of the Perkins Thompson law firm, Tim Benoit, Doug Carr, Melissa Hanley Murphy, Andy Cadot and Andre Benoit. They all had praiseworthy memories of Cap, their fellow lawyer. Cap’s daughter June gave a fine talk, too; she is an excellent speaker.

The music played by Jara Goodrich, harpist, was a lovely addition to the party. It looks like a very difficult instrument to master, but she does it beautifully.

My son Raymond and I sat at a table with our friends from Cape Elizabeth, John and D. Lee Rich, and their son, John III, of Falmouth. Young John is a member of the Perkins Thompson firm, too.

On a large screen we saw many pictures of Cap, as well as his family members. Cap loved mountain climbing, and, also an avid photographer, he compiled photographs of the Alpine flowers of New England he found while hiking the Appalachian peaks. He also developed his own computer programs for calculating mortgage interest, income tax, etc., and wrote a monthly column on computers and software for the Maine Bar Journal.

Cap’s brother, Fred, added some personal comments after the lawyers had spoken. He was in the Mountain Division, too, and had visits with Cap in both Colorado and the Aleutian Islands, while they were in training. Fred was in my class at Deering, 1936, and was a member of Ted Johnson’s ski club group, with good times at the Dyke Mountain cabin in Sebago. Ted had nicknames for his club members, and Fred was “Moo” Cowan.

I recall a trip with a local Portland climbing group to Mount Katahdin, which Cap attended, too. He was very helpful in advising us as we cooked over outdoor wood fires where we were camped in the cabins at Chimney Pond.

My sister Jane and I also attended some of Nancy’s lovely luncheon parties at their Glenwood Avenue home.

At the Woodlands, I enjoyed talking with Ginny Harmon, whose husband Hal helped our sons, as well as his son and many other boys, in the Boy Scout troop at the Woodfords Congregational Church. Also, I had a good chat with Thurston Holt, a Cape Elizabeth resident, who was good friends with the Hay family, who lived at Cragmoor. He recalled Dorothy, Willis and Kate Hay. Kate was a close friend of mine (and still is). We met at the Portland Public Library, where we were both librarians after we graduated from college. Happy memories. Another person who was very helpful to us was paralegal Michele Pezzuti.

And happy memories of Cap, too. His children gave us two memorable occasions on that May weekend. Also memorable were the refreshments served courtesy of the Woodlands chef.

Something smells here

I read an article in the March 30 Boston Herald that left me worrying about the bus driver in Calgary, Canada, who couldn’t stand the smell of all the perfume one of his riders was wearing. He complained to a woman on two separate occasions that her perfume was too strong and was aggravating his allergies. He pulled over and started opening all the windows, then kicked her off a few blocks from her regular stop. The 25-yer-old chiropractic assistant told CTV News, “I was humiliated and embarrassed.”

She had heard no complaints from the other riders. (The driver stood up, looked at the other passengers and said, “Just so everyone knows, we won’t be going anywhere because of the excessive amount of perfume this woman’s wearing. I can’t operate this bus.”

The woman said she’s been spraying on less perfume since the incidents, but she won’t stop wearing it. This article said that Calgary Transit had an investigation under way.

I say that the bus driver is at fault. If his allergies are that bad, perhaps he should find another type of work. He really overdid it when he kicked her off the bus.

Inspired by nature

We saw a hummingbird low on the ground in our back yard, getting a meal from near the lavender flowers of Jill-Over-The-Ground last week, and my sister, in Buxton, has seen them frequently on her Japanese quince bush.

So I decided that it’s time to use this cake recipe this week:

HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 can pineapple; do not drain

2 large bananas, mashed and blended to liquid

1 cup chopped nuts

Mix together dry ingredients. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together oil, eggs, and butter until well blended. Add flour mixture, pineapple and juice with bananas, until smooth. Stir in nuts. Pour into greased, and floured, bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 1 hour before removing. Ice or glaze as desired. From “Best of Maine, Church Supper Cookbook,” 1988.

Ramblings