Hartland, Vermont

Sally Cowdrey (65), passed away peacefully at her home with loved ones by her side. She fought a very courageous battle with bile duct/liver cancer and related complications for nearly five years. She was born at home in Brownsville to Richard Pierce Brown and Margret Deuso Brown. She graduated from Windsor High School in 1972, and a short time later met Gordon Cowdrey who she married on January 30, 1977. In the fall of 1977, their son Daniel Gordon was born. Their daughter, Lisa Marie, came nearly four years later. They later moved to Hartland where they built a beautiful life together.

Sally was predeceased by her parents, Richard and Margret (Maggie) Brown. She is survived by her husband Gordon of 43 years, her son Daniel and daughter-in-law Stephanie Rogers, her daughter Lisa and son-in-law John Butson III, her four grandchildren: Derek, Shyla, Shane, and Adeline, and her three sisters: Sherry Barbour of Brownsville, Sheila Gadola of Vernon, CT, and Sharon & Joe Valente of Charlotte, NC.

Sally was most recently employed by the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union where she worked as an administrative assistant until she had to retire early due to her health. She is fondly remembered as the smiling face that greeted everyone when they walked into the SU office.

Sally enjoyed travelling on occasion, although her animals often kept her close to home. She lived in Spain for a short time with her sister Sharon, she travelled with Gordon to Nashville, she travelled with her sister Sherry to Philadelphia, and in 2013, Sherry and Sally ventured for a week in the counties of Ireland where she kissed the Blarney Stone. Sally enjoyed fishing and being outdoors, and she recently discovered a love of kayaking. The sport of tractor pulling also snuck into her life over the last couple of years as she cheered and celebrated the many trophies won by her husband, grandsons, son-in-law, and her many friends at the pulls.

Sally was known to be horse crazy since she was a little girl and kept horses her entire life. She was an active member of the Hartland Riding Club. Anyone who knew Sally, knew how much of an animal lover she was. Over the years, she had horses, cows, chickens, pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, and even a parrot. "Sally's Barn" was her favorite place in the world where she spent as much time as possible. Her love of flowers was apparent as soon as you arrived at their home. Every spring she spent countless hours preparing her flower beds and put so much loving care into tending them all summer long. This year in particular, the flowers and birds were the highlight of her summer bringing her joy even on her hardest days. Her wish for the people she loved was to remember to take the time to stop and smell the roses because life was just too short.

In true Sally fashion, her wishes were for a private gathering at the Brownsville Cemetery with her immediate family. She has even left detailed instructions and picked her favorite poems and verses to be sure they get it just right. Friends and extended family are invited to visit and pay their respects at their leisure- just look for the bench headstone near the road and come take a load off...

Memorial contributions can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.