William H. Cowie Jr.
CEO of Signet Bank/Maryland and Korean War veteran
William H. Cowie Jr., a Union Trust Co. executive who played a critical role in the bank’s merger that resulted in Signet Banking Corp. and was a decorated Korean War veteran, died of congestive heart failure Aug. 7 at his Brooklandville home.
He was 92.
Edmund B. “Ed” Nolley met Mr. Cowie when the former joined Union Trust Co. in the early 1970s and the two men became friends.
“When Bill came it was exactly what Union Trust needed. His modus operandi was to step out, enhance and strengthen the bank to do great things,” Mr. Nolley said.
“He had charisma and when he entered a room, whether it was before the loan committee or another committee, he did it without fanfare and just had a lot of respect,” he said. “He had a real sense of humor, was always a gentleman, and never had any issues with ethics or integrity.”
William Henry Cowie Jr., son of William H. Cowie Sr., who worked in financial services, and Jane Callahan Cowie, a secretary, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and raised in Queens, New York.
He was a graduate of Power Memorial Academy in Manhattan, and initially planned to be a professional football player and attended St. Bonaventure University on a football scholarship.
After a year at St. Bonaventure, Mr. Cowie decided to abandon football and pursue a career in business. He enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1952 in economics.
Because he was part of Navy ROTC during summers, after graduation he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve. Six months later he was called to active duty at Quantico, Virginia.
In 1953, he was sent to Korea as part of the 1st Marine Division. In July, as a platoon commander, he participated in two days of mortar and artillery barrage at Hill 119, nicknamed “Boulder City.”
On three separate occasions, he led a squad of men to evacuate wounded Marines. Wounded himself, he refused to be evacuated and received, at his request, only first aid.
Because of his actions during an engagement with Chinese forces, he was decorated with the Silver Star for “complete disregard of his personal safety,” according to the citation, “gallant and courageous actions combined with an indomitable spirit that served as an inspiration to all.”
He also received two Purple Hearts. Discharged in 1954, he became a credit manager for U.S. Steel in New York City, and transitioned to the banking industry when he took a job with the old Irving Trust Co. and rose through the ranks to become senior vice president of its national division.
In 1971, Mr. Cowie came to Baltimore as executive vice president of the old Union Trust Co., and two years later, was named president and director of Union Trust Bancorp/Union Trust Co. of Maryland.
“Bill’s main job was to build the infrastructure, which got us into Carroll County, Howard County and Washington,” Mr. Nolley said. “He made the bank strong enough so we could go into Signet because we weren’t big enough to keep going.”
He said that Mr. Cowie successfully steered Union Trust through the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.
“He made sure we hung in there and we kept our market share,” Mr. Nolley said.
He played a pivotal role in the 1986 merger of Union Trust Bancorp and the Bank of Virginia, which created Signet Banking Corp., a $12 billion company that was headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.
Mr. Cowie was president and chief executive operating officer of Signet Bank/Maryland, a position he held until retiring in 1991.
Rather than taking the train or driving to Richmond for meetings, he flew his own plane, a single-engine Piper Turbo Saratoga.
After taking flying lessons and earning his pilot’s license, he purchased a used airplane and eventually earned his commercial pilot’s license.
In addition to taking flying vacations with his family, Mr. Cowie provided “Angel Flights” for children in need of specialized medical care and their parents, whom he flew to Shriners Children’s Boston hospital.
“He flew once a week to keep up his skill levels,” his wife of 47 years, the former Barbara Jean “B.J.” Lockhart, a retired Johns Hopkins University vice president, said. “He was a great adventurer.”
She recalled that one of their most memorable flights was to Chihuahua, in northwestern Mexico, to ride the historic Copper Canyon Railroad in the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Having learned to sail on the Long Island Sound and later on the Chesapeake Bay, Mr. Cowie and his wife spent 20 summers exploring Maine waters aboard their 44-foot Avanti, a Beneteau sailboat, and subsequently the 51-foot Lady Barbara, also a sailboat.
“Bill showed me not to postpone adventures when confronted with uncertainty, but to move forward and calmly adapt as needed, even if it meant finding a different anchorage,” said a nephew, Derek Keil of Guilford, Connecticut.
The couple also spent winters in Saint Barthélemy, where they “enjoyed Sunday services at the Anglican church in Gustavia,” Mrs. Cowie said.
An avid reader whose interests ranged from history to astrophysics, Mr. Cowie decided in his retirement to study Italian in Italy.
Mr. Cowie also volunteered at many institutions and served as Baltimore’s off-street parking commissioner under Mayor William Donald Schaefer and helped establish the Inner Harbor water taxi system.
His board memberships included MedStar Health, the Baltimore Equitable Society and the Pride of Baltimore.
Mr. Cowie was a communicant of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer at 5603 N. Charles St., where a memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 24.
In addition to his wife and nephew, he is survived by a son, Christopher Cowie of Washington; three daughters, Karen Williamson of Methuen, Massachusetts, Kathy Cowie of Marshfield, Massachusetts, and Nancy Sordi of Greenport, New York; a stepdaughter, Reid Norris Buckley of Annapolis; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Another son, William John Cowie, died in 2015. An earlier marriage to Lois Cowie ended in divorce.