Osborne Cowles - Family, Honors and Later Years

Family, Honors and Later Years

Cowles was married to Luella Elizabeth Kaus in Saint Paul, Minnesota at Peoples Church on March 12, 1922. They had two children, Roxanne and David Cowles. Following the death of his first wife, Cowles was remarried to Edris Cowles. Cowles reportedly "built up considerable wealth" through business interests outside basketball, including a large farm in western Minnesota and an ownership interest in a chain of formal wear stores.

After retiring from coaching, Cowles moved to El Paso, Texas where he lived throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He was a member of Quinn and Co. in El Paso and was active in the exploration and production of natural gas. He also became a regular at Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso) basketball games.

Cowles has been induced into the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame, the Darmouth "Wearers of the Green," the University of Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame, the Carleton College Hall of Fame, and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as the fifth recipient of the Hillyard Golden Anniversary Award in 1983, and with the Metropolitan Award in 1993.

In August 1997, Cowles died at Gainesville, Florida at age 98. He was preceded in death by wives, Louella and Edris, and his son, David. He was survived by his third wife, Georgia, daughter, Roxanne, and step-daughter, Janet Gharrity.