Age 80 Barbara Dillane Cowan was born in Toronto in 1931. "I was the third child of devastatingly poor and uneducated parents." They were immigrants - an Irish father and Scottish mother - both of whom grew up in "the old country". After third grade education they worked to help support their families - families which they rarely mentioned in their adult lives though they maintained the rigorous Catholic faith in which they were raised. It was a punitive and rigid observance to which was added a vigorous anti-Catholicism found in Toronto. However, during those years Barbara never questioned the family's religion. Barbara received a BA degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Toronto and, in 1953, a degree in Social Work from the University of Ottawa. Returning to Toronto, she worked in a childrens' protective services agency and raised her two younger siblings after the death of their mother before decamping to the U.S. as a stewardess with American Airlines. In 1957 she married Jack Cowan, a petroleum/geological engineer. Jack worked for Mobil, then Amoco, and was relocated frequently. They had four children who wandered with them during twenty-some moves: Graeme and Allison were born in Venezuela - in the state of Anzoategui, which never fitted into the small space on any required form; Mark was born in Oklahoma and Malcolm in Connecticut. While in Illinois Barbara earned a Master of Divinity at Loyola University in Chicago. A move to Houston in 1979 soon led Barbara to the Jung Center followed by a degree in Pastoral Counseling in 1989 from the Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Indiana. She began a private practice and began teaching at the Jung Center and officing there. At a lesser pace she continues her counselling practice to this day. In 1993 she bought a wreck of a house in Fayetteville, Texas and restored it. It was her sanctuary - without phone or television - until 2001, when she moved into a townhouse in the lower Heights - an area of Houston that the city records called "pestilential" after the Civil War because of mosquitoes and yellow fever. It now neighbors upscale River Oaks across the bayou. 2011 marks the 20th year for Barbara as a Quaker and a member of Live Oak Friends Meeting. Visiting a man on death row and being active in the Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty are part of this commitment. Barbara remains very active and has a great number of close friends. She believes relationships are very important, but require taking risks. Other activities include:
Volunteering at Palmer Episcopal Church’s Way Station for homeless people
Working with people recovering from drug or alcohol abuse
Serving as a docent and committee member at the Holocaust Museum Houston, a vibrant community with ongoing training and opportunity to study at European sites.
When asked about traumatic life experience Barbara described events in 1982 following surgery for peritonitis which included the deaths of her brother and a sister in a five month period and a failed career change (classroom teaching) leading to a serious bout of depression. In true Jungian fashion this was a wake-up call or "re-awakening". She attributes her vitality to the freedom and authenticity that comes with aging, rich relationships, the great range of cultural events which Houston offers, and appreciating nature, excluding of course, excessive heat and humidity. She says, "I guess it's the kid that has come from reclaiming my true self and being honest in what I do. Now I do whatever I want. My life is enriched by relationships every day. My days are good!"
