Center Ossipee, New Hampshire - Norman Hilyard Cogswell, 90, formerly of 6 Beach River Circle, died on October 25, 2010 at the Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine of congestive heart failure. Before this hospitalization he lived with his son Alan & wife Elizabeth in Porter, Maine. Norman was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine on May 26, 1920, the eldest son of Leon and Parvetta Hilyard Cogswell. He graduated from Fort Fairfield High School in 1938 and attended Presque Isle Normal School for 2 years. He proudly served in the Army Air Corps before, during World War 2, attaining the rank of Captain. He flew 50 missions piloting a B-24 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. After WWII, Norman continued his service in US Air Force till 1953, when he enrolled at the University of Maine, Orono. Norman received a Civil Engineering Degree in 1958. He then worked as a Civil Engineer with the United Stated Air Force from 1958 to 1988. Norman retired from the Air Force Reserves as a Lt. Colonel. He was an avid "rock hound" since his youth, collecting many specimens. Norm lived in Newark, Ohio for 35 years, becoming an active member of the Licking County Rock and Mineral Club, First United Methodist Church, the Land of Legend Barbershop Chorus, and the Mound Builders Rose Society, becoming a nationally certified Rose Judge. He also enjoyed fishing, trapping, hunting, and sailing as a younger man. Norm was a member of the American Legion in Hebron, Ohio, and attended many functions with the Rodney A. White V.F.W. in Center Ossipee. Norm was a member of the Ossipee Valley Rotary Club in Ossipee, and a member of the Moultonville United Methodist Church, also attending the First Congregational Church with his son Rick & wife Joyce. Besides his parents, Norman was predeceased by his beloved wife, Grace Gowen Cogswell, eldest son, Charles "Chuck" Cogswell, grandson David Christopher Cogswell, and sister, Edith Cogswell Steves Branscombe. Surviving are three sons: Rev. Alan Cogswell, M.Div., MA, [D.Min.] and his wife Rev. Elizabeth Tapia, Ph.D. of Kezar Falls, ME, Rick Cogswell MS, OSCSW, USNR, (Ret.) and his wife Joyce Upson of Wolfeboro, NH, and Robert Cogswell of Newark, Ohio, his brother, Howard Cogswell and wife Joyce of St. John, New Brunswick; four grandchildren: Jeremy Cogswell of Austin, TX, Steven Cogswell of Billerica, MA., Karen Morceau of Danvers, Mass., and Courtney Lombardo of Billerica, Mass., nine great grandchildren and one on the way.
A memorial service with military honors will be on Saturday, November 13, at 1 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Center Ossipee, Rev. Dan Mitchum and Rev. Laura Delaplain Ph.D. will officiate; Linda Morceau ‘Yellow Feather’, Chief of the Wampanoag's, will render Native American Honors, and Kim Altomari ‘White Feather’ will play a Native American Flute. Arrangements by Watson, Neal & York Funeral Home, Cornish, Maine.