Eleanor Mccowan

Eleanor Birckhead McCowan Eli comfortably and quietly passed away due to complications from dementia early in the morning of January 26 at her residence in Beacon Hill at Eastgate Retirement Community in East Grand Rapids, MI. She was born in Bradford, PA on December 4, 1950 to Lewis and Sylvia Birckhead. After finishing high school in Grand Haven, MI, she went on to graduate from Gallaudet College Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Social Work in 1997. Early in her work life she held positions as Secretary of the Kentucky Association of the Deaf and State Coordinator of the Political Action Network for the Deaf in the 1980s. In addition to serving as a judge in the 1984 Miss Deaf America pageant, she directed two Miss Deaf Kentucky Pageants and edited the state pageant directors’ newsletters (Miss Deaf America, 1984). After completing her internship, she was hired as a Deaf Specialist at the Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. During her time at the Sanderson Center, Eli actively participated in the Utah Deaf community by volunteering for organizations such as the Utah Association of the Deaf, the Miss Utah Deaf Pageant, and the Sego Lily Center Abused for the Deaf, which she co-founded in 2000. From 2001 to 2013, she was a member of the Utah Association for the Deaf and served as a conference chair in 2005 and 2009. In 2008, Eleanor, who was an officer of the Utah Association of the Deaf and the Chair of the 100th-Anniversary Conference scheduled for 2009, created a brief history book for the event. That prompted the creation of the Utah Deaf History website. To quote the opening of Eleanor’s biography on the website: “While working at the Robert G. Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Eleanor” Eli” Birckhead McCowan was actively involved in the Utah Deaf community, volunteering for groups such as the Utah Association of the Deaf, the Miss Utah Deaf Pageant, and the Sego Lily Center Abused for the Deaf, which she co-founded in 2000. From 2001 until 2013, she was a member of the Utah Association for the Deaf, serving as conference chair in 2005 and 2009. Eli received the President’s Award from the Utah Association for the Deaf in 2002 for her excellent community work.” The website details many of her other accomplishments. Scroll to the end; the very last entry. https://www.utahdeafhistory.com/biographies-of- prominent-utah-deafwomen.html She retired from the Sanderson Center in 2015. During her long service to the deaf community, she earned frequent recognition and praise for her work and volunteer contributions, not only in Utah but in other states as well. The St. Louis Community programs for the Deaf acknowledged her “outstanding volunteer services” in 1989, for example. A current employee of the Utah Association of the Deaf writes, “I want everyone in the Deaf Community to be aware of her contributions to the Deaf Society because she was a very amazing and remarkable citizen and leader.” She went on to become the first deaf employee at the West Valley City, UT Walmart, where she worked until her dementia became too much of a burden. She retired from Walmart in the late summer of 2022 to be patiently and supportively cared for by Janene Siteman, who then flew with Eli to Grand Rapids. In the Fall of 2022, she moved from Salt Lake to Grand Rapids to be near her lifelong friends in the local deaf community, but especially to be near a special friend in the group, Debbie Buckley. Debbie steadfastly supported Eli throughout her stay in Beacon Hill, making Eli’s end-of-life experience as comfortable as possible. She is survived by sister, Carolyn Matlack of Taylors, SC and Larry Birckhead of Vancouver, BC, Canada. Also by her children, Rhoda Brock and Jim Pokorny; grandchildren, Corey Ehinger, Mikaela Brock, Jim, Kaya and Maya Pokorny, all of Knoxville, TN; and stepdaughter and stepson, Angie Mounts of Speedwell, TN, and Don Jr. And finally, she’s survived by one of her dearly loved dachshunds, Kimba. An informal graveside gathering will be held at 11:00am on July 10, 2024, in the Lake Forest Cemetery, Grand Haven, MI. Cremation arrangements are entrusted to Michigan Cremation & Funeral Care, Grand Rapids, 616-452-3006. To send a message of sympathy to the family, sign Eleanor’s online guest book, or to share a favorite memory, please visit: www.MichiganCremation.com To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Eleanor Mccowan, please visit our flower store.