Joyce Cowan's Eulogy 
July 21st 1938 - July 16th 2015
Dear family and friends, you have a puzzle piece and so do I; when we put them together we have stories of Joyce's life. We carry it with us especially today as we recall all the memories that were made. Each piece has a place in God's overall plan.
 
Joyce was the 2nd oldest of 9 and developed a strong character and will that no one can deny. All the people we meet and the places we go give shape to the picture that we have to show. Now we mingle together and search for a piece to see if it matches and fits with ease. Sometimes we think that a piece really goes, only to find that it just gives us woes. Sometimes we pick up a piece and it doesn't seem to fit, it may be just perfect after waiting a bit. Then there are the ones we don't even touch because we believe they're not worth very much. Sometimes we're surprised by what we ignore when we discover it's what we've looked for. Thus, we go through life and we pick and we choose the different pieces we want to use. At times we seem lost at what choices to make and amaze ourselves at the chances we take. We don't have the picture on the box top lid to show future results of things that we did. And if we ask questions of God's grand design, Am I in your puzzle or are you in mine?' We learn all of these pieces will merge into one completing the puzzle when life here is done.

Here are some of our pieces from the family

One of Grandma's favorite pastimes was reading a good western or romantic novel. She also enjoyed many holidays. During the holidays my mom and her siblings enjoyed grandma's baking and how she always tried to get them at least one thing they wanted for Christmas. Family gatherings were also a highlight in grandma's life; at these gatherings she enjoyed challenging her kids and grandsons to games of pinochle and cribbage. She also liked taking her grandchildren on vacations that would encourage them to learn history. She once took her grandsons to New Ulm where she watched the boys attempt to get their arms around a large tree.
 
While on a trip with Jeremy to South Dakota in her old Pontiac that wouldn't go over 30mph up the hills Grandma had Jeremy singing I think I can, I think I can the whole trip.

On another trip she brought me to North Dakota, when I was about 7years old .I had loss a tooth and placed that tooth under my pillow, Tooth fairy Grandma gave me 25cents. I remember coming home, telling my mom how bad I felt for the North Dakota kids who only got a quarter and not a dollar for their teeth. 

I also recall Grandma only wanting to bring one grandchild out to eat in a restaurant at a time, due to our table manners. One time when Becky was little, grandma took her out to a Chinese restaurant and instead of ordering egg foo young, she confidentially ordered what she called a cow pieGrandma was quite surprised.  When Grandma asked her where she heard that, she said that our Grandma Betty taught her that.
 
Another quality that Grandma had was being persistence, she never wanted to give up, sometimes this caused fights but other times it was for a good reason. When Amber was young, she really wanted a red haired doll. Grandma searched store after store for many months and refused to settle with a raggedy Ann. Christmas came and there she was a red haired doll named Kari that Amber loves to the very day.  

These were just a few pieces of Grandma's life and although her time on earth here is done, we each hold a memory that will keep a piece of her in our hearts and I hope we can continue to share these parts of grandma for years to come.

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Gearhart Funeral Home

Joyce Cowan

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OBITUARY

Joyce I. Cowan

July 21, 1938 – July 16, 2015

Gearhart Funeral Home

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