Paddy Cowman loved to travel. He made his final journey on March 3rd passing away peacefully at home having returned from a funeral in Cork.
His career in insurance spanned six decades. He joined Coyle & Company in 1934 and after 10 years left to set up V.P. Phillips & Company which eventually merged with Coyle & Company and Hamilton Hamilton in 1970 to form the Coyle Hamilton Group. Paddy was appointed its first managing director and with the assistance of his great friends and colleagues, Geoff Russell and Declan Lennon, laid the foundations and fostered the growth of the group in the following years, the fruits of which many of us enjoy to day. He retired as chairman of the group in 1983.
Paddy is still remembered as one of the greatest personalities of our industry. He brought new and innovative thinking to the business he loved. Apart from being a highly successful insurance broker he also had a natural flair for good management techniques and had a keen interest and understanding of law and finance which added many strings to his capable bow.
He was president of the Insurance Institute of Ireland on no less than three occasions between 1957 and 1975 and was honoured by the Institute when invited to give the oration at the Service of Thanksgiving on the occasion of the centenary year of the Insurance Institute in 1985.
It will come as no surprise to many to know that Paddy was an accomplished actor. In his earlier years he performed on the stage in both the Abbey and Lyric Theatres. He was a frequent broadcasted and won a number of prizes in elocution competitions. This early training and experience provided Paddy with the skills to become an excellent and sought after public speaker. He could spend hours preparing an important speech and make it sound extemporary.
He was one of the early, pioneers of forward planning and he practised it in business as well as in his personal affairs. He would say: "If you don't know where you are going, any path will take you there." Paddy had planned his final path. He attended daily Mass and had a large, warm, compassionate and generous heart. He was a true Christian. Those of us who knew him were aware of the concern and assistance for those less fortunate than he, but we will never, know the full extent of his generosity because it was private to him.
His final path has taken him upwards to join his beloved wife Peggy who predeceased him by six years.
He left his mark on all of us. We will never forget him. We will miss him and none more than his beloved family, David, Michael, John, Mary, Margaret and his sister, Sister Michael. We extend our deepest sympathy to all his family.
Finally, in the course of his oration to the Insurance Institute he said. Salute those living as well as those departed who have contributed so much."
We salute you now Paddy and thank you for all you have given.