Vera Lee Cowin, age 87, died August 6, 2022 at home in Spring Hill, KS. Vera was born January 17, 1935 in Urich, Missouri. Visitation will be 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Thursday, August 11, 2022 at Bruce Funeral Home, 712 S. Webster, Spring Hill, KS. (913) 592-2244. Graveside service will be 10:00 a.m. Friday, August 12, 2022 at Spring Hill Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to American Cancer Society. Condolences may be left at www.brucefuneralhome.com.

Vera graduated from Blairstown High School in 1953. She later moved to the Kansas City, KS area with her parents. Vera married Harley Walter Cowin December 22, 1956 in Kansas City, KS. She moved from Turner, KS to Spring Hill where she was a long-time resident, living there for 54 years.

She loved being a mom and thought there was no better job in the world. She was extremely creative with various arts and needlework. She was also an expert seamstress and made all of Harley’s shirts as well as the majority of her and her kids’ clothes. In 1970 she turned her love of making quilts into a home business where she began machine quilting for other people. She also loved to fish and mow her 3-acre ‘yard’ and especially enjoyed watching her children and granddaughter play sports.

Survivors include children, Steven & wife Satana Cowin, Spring Hill, KS, Deborah Lee Cowin, Overland Park, KS, John Michael Cowin, Paola, KS; granddaughter Megan Lee Pontius, Oxford, OH; four step-grandchildren and 11 stepgreat grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Clarence & Eddie Elizabeth Wehmeyer, her husband, Harley Walter Cowin, a sister, two brothers, one sonin- law, Martin Pontius and one daughter-in-law, Jane Cowin.

Monday, August 8, 2022 at Good Samaritan Society, Olathe, Kansas. Visitation Saturday, September 24, 2022 from 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. with the Rosary at 9:30 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial follows at 10:00 a.m., all at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 625 Freeman Ave., Oakley, Kansas. Inurnment at St. Joseph Cemetery, Oakley, Kansas. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Joseph’s Catholic School, 725 Freeman Ave, Oakley, KS 67748. Condolences may be left at www.brucefuneralhome.com Lillie was born on April 8, 1927 in Vermillion, Kansas to Jacob Samuel and Minnie Emiline (Noble) McGowan. She attended grade school at Vermillion. In 1941 her parents moved to Goodland, KS. She graduated from Goodland High School in 1945. She attended Northwest Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology at Minneapolis, MN. Upon graduating, she went to work for the doctor at the hospital in Cheyenne Wells, CO. While working there, she met the love of her life, Leo. Lillie married Leo M. Ludwig on May 4, 1947 at the Catholic Church in Goodland, Kansas. They lived in Cheyenne Wells, CO for two years where they were involved in the family grocery business. In 1949 they moved to Oakley, KS and raised five children: Richard, Ronald, Stephen, James, and Paula. Lillie was a homemaker until all her children were in school. She was a volunteer at St. Joseph Catholic School for many years and did the Catholic Church bulletin for 25 years. In 1976, she became a Para for the Oakley Public School. She retired in 1989. Upon their retirement, she and Leo did extensive travelling which included a 6-week tour of Europe. Lillie moved to Olathe in 2013 and attended Divine Mercy Church, Gardner, Kansas.

Lillie was preceded in death by her parents; husband Leo and siblings: Francis McGowan, Ralph McGowan and Lulu Barnett. She is survived by her children: Richard (Nancy) Ludwig, Gardner, Kansas, Ronald (Mary) Ludwig, Denver, Colorado, Stephen (Deb) Ludwig, Hays, Kansas, James (Carol) Ludwig, Andover, Kansas and Paula (Dan) Naden, Olathe, Kansas; 15 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.

Services in care of Baalmann Mortuary & Crematory, Oakley, Kansas.