Andrew Cowper - Post-military Career and Later Life

Post-military Career and Later Life

Cowper returned to Australia on his retirement from the Royal Air Force, working on his parent's sheep farming property near Coonamble, New South Wales. At the district registrar's office, Randwick, Cowper wed Miriam Goldberg on 28 April 1924; the couple later had sons Leon and Henry. Moving to Sydney, Cowper became proprietor of a seed and plant merchant company, Henderson & Co., while Miriam established a florist store. As their business ventures expanded, the couple purchased a gladioli-farm at Mona Vale. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Cowper enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 23 February 1942. He served as an officer in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch, rising to the rank of squadron leader. He was discharged from service on 2 March 1945, his final posting being to RAAF Base Rathmines; his son Leon had also served as a warrant officer in the Royal Australian Air Force during the war.

An accomplished and passionate horticulturalist, Cowper cultured a "fine garden" at his home in Bellevue Hill. A member of the Australian Jockey Club and Sydney Turf Club, Cowper died at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, on 25 June 1980. Predeceased by his wife and children by some years, he was cremated.