Donna Brookes Cowan, 70, of Fernandina Beach, Fla. and formerly of Burlington, Vt. and Bowie, Md., died unexpectedly Sunday, May 26, 2019 at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Brookes, a much beloved professor at the University of Vermont (UVM) in Burlington for 32 years, was named Outstanding Professor of the Year and nominated for the award every subsequent year thereafter. Having received her Ph.D. in medical sociology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Brookes also earned a master’s degree in social work while teaching at UVM and provided grief counseling to the bereaved in the Burlington area.
She was a passionate advocate for quality end-of-life care and hospice and taught an original course on the “Sociology of Death and Dying” in hopes that graduating students would carry the hospice message back to their families and friends.
She was an avid tennis player with a wicked sliced backhand and played on several intra-island and inter-club leagues in the greater Amelia Island, Fla. area.
She was predeceased by her parents, Eugene and Grace Cowan of Bowie, Md.
She leaves behind her spouse, Jaye Roseborough and her two dogs, AnjoBanjo and Buckaroo, all of Fernandina Beach; her daughter-in-law, Lori Haller and granddaughters Olivia and Emma, all of Boston, Mass.; a brother, Edward Eugene Cowan Jr. and nephews Seth and Adam Cowan, all of Frederick, Md.; and several beloved cousins and their spouses and children, and many wonderful friends.
A celebration of her life will be held sometime next month.
Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors