Mary Lou [Harris Hobby] Cowgill

31 August 1943 to 15 December 2021

A Celebration of her Life and Accomplishments

Mary Lou [Harris] was born in Albany Georgia at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, to Charles Wesley Harris and Mary Estelle Harrison as their only child. Shortly after Mary Lou’s birth the family moved to 304 Greve Road, Pensacola, Florida 32507, which remained the family home until 1974.

Mary Lou was a remarkable woman that touched the lives of so many people. She was one of those special people, that ever so often God would place on this earth, whom you just knew when you met her there was something very special and extraordinary about her, and immediately felt a calming comfort. She was a wonderful mother, mentor, teacher, and friend. She had a classy intelligent quality that people noticed as soon as she entered a room. She was always poised with a stately demeanor. But every once in a while, she would let her fun-loving spirit slip through. She presented as very unassuming until she spoke. Until this posting, only a few immediate family members knew she had an IQ of 148! Mary Lou had an uncanny thirst for knowledge – even as a child you’d find her reading encyclopedias! She never voiced or touted her intelligence, instead she always tried to use it to better herself and those around her. She loved doing for others. Even when she first began working and had very little, Mary Lou was always making holiday crafts, organizing birthday celebrations, baby showers, and get wells for co-workers, which she continued her entire life. She loved the beach, crafts, making Christmas ornaments, decoupage, and gardening. She was also an excellent dancer, which often surprised many she knew.

Mary Lou attended Navy Point Elementary School; Warrington Junior High School, was a member of the National Junior Honor Society and received the Florida Junior Chamber of Commerce Certificate of “Scholastic Achievement as a Straight A Student”. She was a Girl Scout, earning the Roller Skating Award signed by a professional skater; is an alumna of Escambia High School, continuing as a member of the National Honor Society and one of 10 students representing Escambia High School [for the first time] at the Annual Convention of the Florida Association of National Honor Society Chapters, in Miami, Florida, She graduated receiving a National Honor Society Award for “Best Contribution to the National Honor Society”, as well as the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce | Florida Junior Chamber of Commerce Certificate of Scholastic Achievement as an Honor Roll Student.

Mary Lou worked in the banking industry for many years. Shortly out of High School, in November of 1961, she went to work for Barnett Bank, Incorporated. [She would work for them nearly 30 years.] Her first position was at their downtown office on Garden Street, in their proofing department [in the bank’s basement]. She was also enrolled at Pensacola Junior College [PJC] [now Pensacola State College] studying accounting. Mary Lou quickly advanced to Barnett’s Loan and Discount department and was a computer programmer.

In 1973 Mary Lou was accepted into the Florida School of Banking. While still attending School, she was appointed Manager of the Loan and Discount department; later she was additionally appointed the Banks’ Accounting Officer and Operations Assistant.

August 15, 1975, Mary Lou graduated from the Florida School of Banking at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Working full-time at Barnett, she also taught American Institute of Banking Courses at PJC. She was very involved as a member of the Pensacola Chapter of the American Institute of Banking, eventually becoming President in 1979; a Member of the National Association of Bank Women and Vice-President of Education of the Pensacola Chapter; the Chamber of Commerce; United Way, [she represented Barnett Bank for the Pacesetter Award]; Junior Achievement; American Cancer Society, where she eventually served on the Board – she even partnered with WEAR to broadcast the Annual Cancerama Fund Raiser Drive.

In 1976 Mary Lou was appointed Vice President of Barnett Bank of North Pensacola, recently built on North Davis Highway. She was instrumental in the bank being built and also enjoyed overseeing the design - her favorite contribution being the infamous duck pond behind the building. A year later, Mary Lou was appointed the Branch Manager – becoming the 1st Woman Bank Manager in the Pensacola Area! She was also appointed Vice President of Barnett Bank downtown.

There were many news articles written about Mary Lou during her time at Barnett Bank. One article in particular, published in The Pensacola News Journal in 1979, reflected on how she was coping with “stress” since being promoted to [the 1st Woman] Branch Manager. When asked how she copes with day-to-day pressures - remarking that banker’s hours had not been part of her daily schedule since her promotion; Mary Lou responded: “It’s all in the mind. I put everything in perspective and use my time wisely. Banking. . . has a lot of deadlines . . .compounded by your being there when the customer needs you. They are our prime consideration. That necessitates doing the extra paperwork between customers or taking it home at night.” That describes Mary Lou’s admirable work ethic and approach to life perfectly. She always put the customer [others] first and did whatever it took to get things done. Mary Lou also continued to be involved in the community, in fact, she and her employees of Barnett Bank North received an American Cancer Society award “in appreciation for their support in the Cancer Crusade”.

1979 is when Mary Lou and her husband, Howard Cowgill, first met; during a fraud investigation where Howard was the case agent [They didn’t know at the time, but each secretly knew there was something special about the other]. Mary Lou was very instrumental in pulling together data for the case and was the first Barnett Bank Manager to testify in a federal criminal fraud case. It’s reported she presented evidence so matter of fact, with such expertise, and in such an organized manner, the defense attorney was dumbfounded. The Bank won the case because of her skill for detail and quick recall. She also received an award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

“in appreciation of your cooperation and

expert testimony essential to the successful

prosecution of a major bank fraud”

May 13, 1980, Mary Lou graduated from the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University. During the 1980’s Mary Lou stayed busy presenting forums for Women going into Business and how to secure financing; as well as conducting fraud prevention seminars for Escambia County retail merchants.

On September 20, 1981, it was announced that Mary Lou would be transferring to Barnett Banks of Florida in Jacksonville to work for Barnett’s holding company in the Branch Development Department. At a farewell gathering, the Officers and Employees of Barnett Bank of West Florida presented Mary Lou with an Award for her service from November 1, 1961 to September 4, 1981.1

By December 1981, she was already promoted to Assistant Vice-President in Branch Administration of Barnett, Jacksonville. While in Jacksonville Mary Lou became involved with the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program for Human Service Agencies, receiving an award at 5 years of service.

Around 1989, Mary Lou was contacted to help startup a local bank branch in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for Ponte Vedra National Bank. She left Barnett Bank to design and get the new bank up and running – including training all the bank employees. Once the Bank was open to customers, she took her position as the Controller. Sometime in the mid 1990’s, Mary Lou and Howard Cowgill, reconnected as if no time had lapsed from the first time they met in 1979 - immediately both knew they were with their soul mate.

Ponte Vedra Bank merged with Sun Trust Bank. Mary Lou then accepted a position as controller of a bank in Panama City, Florida. She worked there until accepting a position as Controller for a large produce company in Destin – now Fresh America. Howard was also offered a position with this company, so the two of them were able to work together, strengthening their bond even more.

Mary Lou and Howard moved to Pensacola where her daughters still lived. Together they established a private consulting firm that investigated financial fraud. Mary Lou served as the Director, Treasurer, and Secretary for the firm and Howard was the President.

In January of 2001 Mary Lou was contacted to work for her current employer, Southern Restaurant Group [previously known as Cobb Restaurant Group]. She accepted a position as their Controller and was quickly promoted to her final positions as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of their Business companies. Howard had also been hired as the company’s Financial Accountant. They considered themselves so blessed to be with each other throughout each day – both at work and at home. They married March 4, 2001.

Throughout her life, even with her hectic schedule of going to school, teaching banking courses, and being involved with so many community groups and events, Mary Lou always made time for her two daughters; her mother, whom she moved into the family home to take care of; extended family; co-workers, employees, and friends.

Mary Lou became very close and genuinely cared about every worker of Southern Restaurant Group and their restaurants: waitresses, waiters, cooks, managers, etc. When Hurricane Sally hit the Destin/Panama City area September of 2020, many of SRG’s restaurant employees lost their homes and were living in a “car city camp”. Unknown to most, Mary Lou spent many hours working behind the scenes contacting various non-profit resources to try to help employees with housing, utilities, hot meals, counseling, etc.

With her health noticeably declining and COVID-19 a major factor in the world, Mary Lou spent the first quarter of 2021, the final year of her life, making sure employees were taken care of. She worked tirelessly from home to complete the company’s Paycheck Protection Program [PPP] loan paperwork for submission. Her filing was so accurate, with no subsequent data requested from the Small Business Administration [SBA] – they tried to hire her. Even after two months in the hospital and subsequent rehab facility in June and July, Mary Lou continued to do the best she could to make sure co-workers at SRG were trained with as much knowledge as possible [that she always kept in her head], transitioning towards retirement. Much of the time she worked from her bed with a makeshift office table across her lap - she gave all she had to give to the last.

Mary Lou is preceded in death by her mother, Mary Estelle Harris, who passed away November 4, 1982; her father, Charles Wesley Harris, who passed away January 14, 1963; and leaves behind her Husband: Howard; 2 daughters: Mary Ruth “Ruthie” Poss [Stuart] and Mary Elizabeth “Liz” Benauer [Dave]; 1 stepson: Robert [Kathryn]; 5 grandchildren: Mary Ruth’s children: David, Jr. and Courtney; Liz’s children: Cathy, Ann, and Beth; 9 greatgrandchildren: Courtney’s children: Rose, Lilly, and Isabelle; deceased grandson Brian’s child: Marley; Cathy’s children: Ryden, Katelyn, and Adrian; Ann’s child: Kaylee; Beth’s children: Kayla and Liam; 12 stepgrandchildren: deceased stepdaughter Betty’s children: Peter and Danny; deceased stepdaughter Anna’s children: Robert, Jamie, and Mandy; Robert and Kathryn’s children: Carmen, Bo, Austin, William, Joshua, Cory, and Shane; her beloved Yorkie, Phoebe Putney; her beloved Cockatoo, Peaches; and her beloved Sun-Conure, Guido.

“A good leader touches lives, gently guiding and teaching

A friend touches hearts, generously sharing and enriching

Thank you for touching our hearts as well as our lives”

Barnett Bank Officers and Employees, 1981

May you rest in Peace and Rise in Glory!

We love and miss you - your family, friends,

and all those whose life you touched and made a difference!