Dr. G. Thomas Cowart was such an enthusiastic Georgia Tech fan a friend scheduled a funeral so it wouldn't interfere with a home game.
His daughter, Dorothy Anne Cowart of Roswell, tells the story of a neighbor who asked her father to be a pallbearer at a memorial service. It was planned for a fall Saturday, and the Jackets were playing in town.
“She arranged the funeral early enough so he could be finished before kickoff,” Ms. Cowart said.
The Atlanta urologist never missed a Tech home football game, a streak he started while growing up in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood during the Depression and -- except for a two-year stint in the Army -- continued until he was in his late 80s, friends and family said.
During his medical internship at Emory University Hospital, he occasionally would pay someone to take over his Saturday shift while he attended games, his daughter said.
“He loved Atlanta, and he loved Georgia Tech,” said a longtime friend and colleague, Dr. William Morrison of Roswell, a retired urologist.
“We would have lunch every Monday after the Georgia Tech games, and he would go over every detail and talk about what he liked,” Dr. Morrison said.
Dr. Cowart’s love of Tech was part of a bigger loyalty to his native Atlanta, and anything that symbolized the city, such as Coca-Cola and Braves baseball, friends and family said.
“I remember growing up as a child no one would bring a Pepsi into the house. Only Coke was allowed because Coca-Cola was Atlanta,” Ms. Cowart said.
Dr. Morrison tried numerous times to convince his friend to move outside the city, but he never would consider living or practicing medicine anywhere else.
“I’ve never known anyone so dedicated to Atlanta or anything Atlanta had,” Dr. Morrison said.
Griggsby Thomas Cowart, 90, of Atlanta died July 13 during a short stay at Hospice Atlanta after a mini stroke suffered at his home due to vascular dementia. Memorial services will be planned at a later date, his daughter said. Cremation Society of Georgia in Atlanta was in charge of arrangements.
Dr. Cowart’s lifelong devotion to Georgia Tech began as a boy when a professor from the school moved next door and gave the youngster football tickets, his family said.
After graduating from Boys High in 1937, he turned down a full scholarship to the University of Virginia so he could stay in Atlanta and attend Tech games, said neighbor and friend Charles Owens, retired president and CEO of Southern Federal Savings and Loan Association.
Because Dr. Cowart wanted to study medicine, he attended Emory University instead of Georgia Tech. He graduated in 1940, then in 1944 from Emory School of Medicine.
Dr. Cowart served two years as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He was chief of urology at the Atlanta Veterans Administration Hospital in the early 1950s, before going into private practice in the Medical Arts Building in Atlanta. He also was an assistant professor of surgery at Emory from 1964 until his retirement in 1986, his daughter said.
Dr. Morrison said he decided to specialize in urology after serving a residency under Dr. Cowart’s supervision at the VA Hospital. He remembers the care his colleague took with patients.
“He would perform surgery on a patient, then sit by the hour to make sure they were alright. That’s one of the reasons I went into urology. I admired him so much,” Dr. Morrison said.
Dr. Cowart also was an enthusiastic supporter of Atlanta’s baseball teams, a loyalty that began with the Atlanta Crackers, his daughter said.
For almost 15 years he volunteered as stadium doctor at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, serving on-call duty for medical emergencies involving fans.
His fondest memories were of catching a Hank Aaron foul ball barehanded and seeing the home run hitter break Babe Ruth’s record, his family said.
Other survivors include his wife of 66 years, Anne Henderson Cowart of Atlanta; a son, Griggsby Thomas Cowart Jr. of Cumming; two grandchildren; and a great grandson.
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