Volunteer Spotlight: What's Your Why?


No matter where you live, the veteran’s wreath you sponsor remembers and honors a veteran laid to rest peacefully every December. That fresh balsam-fir wreath with its pure forest scent, is a catalyst for healing for hundreds of families. No one expresses that better than Wreaths Across America volunteer location coordinator and Gold Star Mother Mary Cowan in New Mexico.

Mary learned about Wreaths Across America when a newspaper clipping spoke of a planning meeting at the cemetery. “I was curious and reached out to a friend of mine who lives in Maine,” Mary explained. “When she sent me that photo of wreaths against headstones in the snow it really stuck in my mind. I attended the meeting and when I realized there was no music planned for the ceremony I volunteered “my” choral group the Hi-Lo Silvers to sing a patriotic song or two. The next year, when there was no mention of a planning meeting I reached out and by default became the location coordinator. I learned subsequently the former volunteer had moved away. As a Gold Star Mother, I was pleased to support our fallen veterans at the ceremony at the cemetery.”

In 2012 Mary had additional motivation to gather wreath sponsorships for her cemetery. “Our beloved son Aaron Cowan was an Apache helicopter pilot who was killed in a crash in Korea. His memorial marker was re-emplaced in Ft. Bayard, from National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. That made my WAA efforts even more meaningful.”

Each year, Mary’s wreaths sponsorship efforts have been supported by the Marine Corps League, American Legion, VFW, Ft Bayard Historical Preservation Society, and community individuals. “If I can brag a little,” Mary requested. “We get more wreaths sponsored at our little rural cemetery than some of the bigger national cemeteries in New Mexico and Texas that can draw from larger population pools.”

As if remembering and honoring her son was not enough motivation to support the mission, Mary’s husband’s marker is now near her son’s. In 2021, Mary will honor thousands of veterans and say their names including her son and husband of sixty-one years, Colonel Donald “Tip” Cowan.

Thank you, Mary, for living up to their legacy serving as a Wreaths Across America volunteer for over ten years.

You can hear more of Mary’s story in her “What’s Your Why?” feature on Wreaths Across America Radio.