Dr. Dan Charles CowmanFebruary 13, 1955 - August, 27, 2015Dan Charles Cowman, M.D., passed away on August 27, 2015, at age 60, at the DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. Dan was born on February 13, 1955, in Nampa, to Carol William and Carrol Viola Fiedler Cowman. He went through the Nampa schools (Roosevelt Elementary, Central Jr. High), where he was known as Danny, and graduated from Nampa High School with honors, Class of 1973. From an early age, he had a strong affinity for science. This manifested in an interest in rocks and geology, marine biology, and astronomy and the space program. He was especially taken by John Glenn's orbit of earth and created a scrapbook of newspaper clippings for Cub Scouts that highlighted the importance of this event to the space program. In high school, he was active in band, Math Team, and was president of the Science, Chess, and Spanish Clubs. He was a member of the Foreign Language Society, the National Honor Society, represented Nampa as one of the Boy's State delegates, and participated in the National Science Foundation summer course in Chemistry at the College of Idaho. He was employed by Safeway and Albertsons. He excelled in Boy Scouts, earning his Eagle in 1969; he then went on to earn a bronze palm. He earned the God and Country award, under the supervision of Dr. Robert Shields of the First United Presbyterian Church, in 1971. He attended the National Jamboree in 1969 (at age 14) and the 13th World Jamboree in Japan in 1971. Dan was awarded two prestigious four-year scholarships, which he used at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. One was the National Presbyterian Scholarship and the other was the Coe Science Scholar. During college, he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies; he also received an Exploration Expedition International scholarship in his sophomore year to support his research at the Mogollon Pueblo Indian site in New Mexico where he participated in an archeological dig and uncovered skeletal remains. Another research project focused on weather patterns and air quality in Cedar Rapids, IA. Dan graduated from Coe College magna cum laude in 1977 with bachelor degrees in Chemistry and General Science. He went on to attend medical school at Stanford University School of Medicine, graduating in 1981. In 1977, he married Deborah Murray; they had two children Erik Murray Cowman (stillborn) and Erika Marie Cowman. They were later divorced. Dan served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1981-1985. During this time, he completed his internship in Flexible Medicine (1981-1982) at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, CA. He was then selected for a specialized training program in Aerospace Medicine and Flight Surgery (Pensacola, FL) from March - August 1983, where he received the Fox Flag award for graduating first in his class. After completing this training, he was assigned to care for a unit of Marine pilots and their families. At discharge, Dan had earned the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Dan completed his four-year residency in 1989 in Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Texas at Houston. He then entered private practice radiology in the Conroe/Woodlands area of Texas. He was a member of Conroe-Tomball Radiologists (1989-2007), served as Chief of Staff at Tomball Regional Medical Center in 1993, and was Chief of Breast Imaging at Memorial Hermann, The Woodlands Hospital, 2004-2007. He joined Innovative Radiology in 2007 where he was affiliated with Conroe Regional Medical Center and Kindred Hospital in Houston. His love of collecting started early with an empty penny collector's coin book that was a gift from his aunt, Ethel Schulz; she also interested him in stamp collecting, which eventually included first-day covers. He also enjoyed antiques and collected and indexed rare fruit jars (and their fasteners) with his father. Eventually Dan combined his interest in collecting with his curiosity about the history of medicine. He was a passionate collector of patent medicines and almanacs. Over more than 30 years, he amassed one of the largest patent medicine collections in the country and created an exhaustive catalog of existing patent medicines and almanacs. He greatly loved the outdoors and favorite pastimes included all types of fishing. Early in his life he fished the lakes and streams of Idaho and later enjoyed both surf and deep sea fishing from their getaway beach house in Galveston, TX. Dan is survived by his wife of 18 years, Kathryn Ann Iles Cowman; his daughters, Erika Marie Cowman Neeley, M.D. (Daniel) of Seattle, WA, Sarah Nicole Cowman and Rachel Elizabeth Cowman of Tomball, TX; mother Carrol V. Cowman of Nampa; sister Cindy Bergeman, Ph.D. (Dean) of Granger, IN, their daughters Hannah (Denver, CO) and Brianne Smith (husband Jeff, children Zoe and Caia; Loveland, CO); brother Timothy Cowman (Kristy) of Richland, WA and their daughters Caitlin and Kelsey; sister Francie Aguilar (Buster) of Nampa, their daughters Alexa and Makenna; brother Casey Cowman (Lisa) of Nampa, and their children Blake and Kate; sister Erin Talsma (Brent) of Albany, OR, their sons Ethan and Andrew (AJ); aunt Connie Fiedler Neider (Jay) and family of Bowmont and Stanley, ID; and many other family members and friends around the country. Dan's family, friends, and coworkers appreciated his kindness, generosity, dedication, and hard-working nature. His quiet strength formed the foundation of his family and his greatest joy was his wife and three daughters. He will be greatly missed by all those who had the privilege to know him. He was preceded in death by a son Erik Murray Cowman (stillborn), father Carol William Cowman, brother Russell Kenney Cowman, sister Merry Roseanne Cowman, and aunts Ethel Rose Fiedler Schulz and Judie Cowman White, maternal grandparents Charles M. and Edna M. Kenney Fiedler and paternal grandparents Harley H. and Irma Minnick Cowman. Memorial services were held on Saturday September, 19, 2015 in Spring, Texas. On his request, his ashes were scattered in the Gulf of Mexico (off Galveston, TX) the following day. A Successful ManThat man is a success-who has lived well, laughed often and loved much;who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children;who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;who leaves the world better than he found it;who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it;who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.