Willis Cowlishaw, Zale Executive and Mentor to Many, Dies at 98

Dallas—Willis Ray Cowlishaw, a World War II veteran and watchmaker who rose to become a top executive at Zale Corp., died March 16 following a series of health challenges.

He was 98.

Born June 18, 1926 in Wolco, Oklahoma, Cowlishaw enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he graduated from high school in June 1944, near the end of World War II.

He served as a seaman first class-gunner’s mate on the USS Essex aircraft carrier during the last year of combat in the Pacific Theater and then on the USS Randolph returning soldiers to the United States from Europe, aka Operation Magic Carpet.

After the war, Cowlishaw returned to Oklahoma and in 1946, married Wanda McDowell.

He earned a horology degree from Hardin Junior College (now Midwestern University) in Wichita Falls, Texas, and began his career in the jewelry industry as a watchmaker in Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Cowlishaw worked at one of the first Zales stores in Tulsa, walking the sales floor during the day and taking watches home at night for repair.

Zale Corp. recognized his talent for sales and management, and Cowlishaw was promoted numerous times over the years, moving his family—which by now included sons Patrick and Timothy Cowlishaw—from Tulsa to Topeka, Kansas, and back, and then to northern New Jersey before settling in the Dallas area in 1963.

For two decades, Cowlishaw was president of Zale’s Fine Jewelers Guild Division, the arm of the company comprised of higher-end jewelry stores that Zale had acquired, such as Corrigan’s in Dallas and Houston.

Zale Corp. founder Morris Zale, who died in 1995, was his mentor, guiding him as he expanded the division to more than 200 stores in U.S. cities and suburbs.

Cowlishaw also served as a mentor to “hundreds” of men and women over the years, many of whom became lifelong friends.

While Cowlishaw eventually left Zale Corp., he never really retired, working as an industry consultant well into the 2000s.

Outside of work, he was an avid golfer, playing on some of the world’s most famous courses like
Pebble Beach and the Old Course at St. Andrews. He continued to golf until he was 97 years old.

Though he lost his first wife, Wanda Cowlishaw, to cancer in June 1969 when they were both 42 years old, Cowlishaw remarried in May 1970, wedding Patricia Evans.

The pair traveled extensively for work and for fun across the U.S. and Europe, taking a hot air balloon ride over France, riding the Jungfrau Railway in Switzerland, and seeing Aida performed in Verona, Italy.

They built a second home in Horseshoe Bay West in the Texas Hill Country, the site of many happy family gatherings.

Cowlishaw also was a devout Christian, joining the Methodist Church as an adult. He was a friendly presence and lay leader at First United Methodist Richardson, University Park United Methodist, and St. Andrews Methodist. 

“Willis never met a stranger. Across a jewelry counter, at the office, on the golf course, or over a sandwich, Willis was fully present and ready to listen to anyone,” his obituary states.

“His kind and thoughtful words turned around many lives.”

Cowlishaw is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Patricia Cowlishaw; sons Patrick (Melanie) and Tim (Shana); five grandchildren, Hayley Elizabeth Cowlishaw, Meredith Cowlishaw Drake (Colin), Robert Willis Cowlishaw (Abby), Rachel Wanda Kramer (Carlos), and Benjamin Timothy Cowlishaw; and two great-grandchildren, Charlotte Pearl Drake and Clark Patrick Drake.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Wanda, brothers Darrell, Willard, and Milton Cowlishaw, sister Maxine Cartwright, and daughter-in-law Lori Cowlishaw. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum, the American Cancer Society, or another charity.