Lauren Paige Comly

Lauren Paige Comly passed away at her home in Ithaca, NY on Friday, February 7, surrounded by her family. Adored by her husband of 21 years, Edwin A. Cowen (Todd), she was a devoted and loving mother to her two children, Archer and Lily. She was born in Lancaster, PA on November 29, 1965 and is survived by her parents, Albert R. and Kay Comly and her two younger sisters, Gretchen and Krista.

Lauren attended Hempfield High School in Lancaster and graduated magna cum laude from Dickinson College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She and Todd were married in Lancaster. She worked in development for Stanford and Brown Universities before deciding to focus her energy on raising her two children. A lifelong photographer, she recently returned to school to pursue her Masters of Fine Arts in Photography at Syracuse University, where she completed two years of study before taking a medical leave of absence.

Photography had been a strong theme of Lauren's pursuits. She taught numerous short courses for elementary school children in Ithaca, often in collaboration with Ithaca City School District teachers with support from the Ithaca Public Education Initiative. She developed an after school photography program as part of the Cornell Cooperative Extension / 4-H Urban Outreach programming at the West Village Apartments. As her thoughts turned toward pursuing art photography she reached out to the Ithaca League of Women Rollers (ILWR) who embraced her, leading to a strong relationship with the league. She served as the league photographer for several years and based her MFA project on ideas she explored in photographs and videos of ILWR skaters.

Lauren was a passionate lover of the arts as well as an avid outdoorswoman. She was an accomplished downhill skier, backcountry hiker, cyclist, and most especially a walker with her dogs. She could often be found on the roads, paths and trails of the greater Ithaca community with her two rescue dogs.

Lauren put up a courageous fight against colon cancer. She was buried at the Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve. A celebration of her life will be held on June 14th at 1:30 pm in Sage Chapel at Cornell University. Details on the celebration can be found at http://laurencomly.com/celebration.

Gifts in Lauren's honor may be sent to a special fund established in her name at Challenge Workforce Solutions, 950 Danby Road, Suite 179, Ithaca, NY 14850.