Martha Evans Cowan

Martha – named after her mother’s favorite film star, comedienne Martha Raye – was born in Kentucky and raised in Tuscaloosa, Ala, where her father Elmer Evans owned a small grocery store.

Blessed with a keen intellect and tireless work ethic, Martha was the first woman in her family to attend college. After graduating from the University of Alabama, she became a high school math teacher, a bookkeeper and a funeral director. But her favorite job was being a wife and mother.

Martha and her husband James “Jim” Jackson Cowan III were teenage sweethearts who lost touch after high school. They met again and married a decade later. The couple were together 52 years and lived in the same Birmingham home for 50 years.

Jim and Martha have two children: Jennifer Cowan and James “Jay” Jackson Cowan IV. Martha also has two children from an earlier marriage: David Martindale and Debbye Scott.

Those who knew Martha will remember her radiant smile and wry humor. She was devoted to Alabama Crimson Tide football. She collected ceramic cows. She rejoiced when she completed her daily Sudoku puzzles. She read gritty crime and adventure novels. She never missed the cheesy “Match Game” reruns on Game Show Network. She delighted in telling corny jokes that were more “punny” than funny.

She also had foibles: She made lists, lots of lists, even lists of lists, and was the most organized hoarder ever.

Martha was a people person. When she saw children in the grocery store, she offered them high-fives and fist-bumps. She also was a lifelong cat lover. She named and fed all of the strays in her neighborhood, yet she drew the line at letting any of them in her house. Most of all, she loved her family, never missing an opportunity to brag about her husband, her children and her grandchildren.

Martha was an eternal optimist. In her final years, she often remarked that she was living on “borrowed time” – until it occurred to her she should accentuate the positive, so she changed the phrase to “bonus time.” When she chatted with her kids, she would end the conversations with the same words: “Always know I love you.”

She is survived by husband James Jackson Cowan III, son David Martindale, daughter Debbye Scott, son James Jackson Cowan IV, daughter Jennifer Cowan, son-in-law Steven Reece, grandchildren Michael, Melissa, Karen, Aidan, Linnea, and Phoebe, and great-grandchildren Ava, Loren and Zoe.

She will be remembered at a 2:00 p.m.service Sunday, Feb. 14, at Johns-Ridout Mortuary-Elmwood Chapel, 800 Dennison Ave. SW, in Birmingham, with visitation at 1 p.m. A graveside service will follow at Forest Crest Cemetery in Irondale. The funeral home requests that everyone present wears masks and observes social distancing. Her service will be live on our Facebook page link: www.facebook.com/ridoutselmwood