from the USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — A. Wayne Cowdery, 68, of near Bloomingburg, Ohio, died Jan. 26, 2015, at his residence. He had been in failing health for a few years.

Mr. Cowdery was born August 30, 1946, in Columbus, Ohio, to Gordon Wayne and Mary Elizabeth Moats Cowdery. He was a 1964 graduate of Miami Trace High School and attended Ohio University. He lived most of his life in the Bloomingburg area.

He was a boarder and hauler of horses. He was extremely well known in the Standardbred industry and he traveled most anywhere a farm owner or trainer needed him to.

Mr. Cowdery was a member of Washington C.H. Lodge #129 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, the Bloomingburg United Methodist Church and had been a member of the former Moose Lodge and Moose Lodge Motorcycle Riders in Circleville. His hobbies were horses and motorcycles.

He is survived by his wife, the former Corene Lynn “Corky” Valentine, whom he married Dec. 23, 1994; five children; a sister and brother-in-law; and three nieces. He was preceded in death by his father in 1981 and his mother in 2009.

A memorial service will be held Saturday (Jan. 31) at 3 p.m. at the Kirkpatrick Funeral Home in Washington Court House with the Rev. Jeff Moats, pastor at the Denman Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas, officiating. Friends may call at the funeral home Saturday from 12 noon until time of the service.