Women's sports pioneer dies at age 91
Katharine "Kotch" Kowell was one of the last surviving members of the Parichy Bloomer Girls professional team that won the National Girls Baseball Championship in 1947 and drew legions of fans from throughout the Chicago area.
Kowell, who lived in Hoffman Estates, died March 30. She was 91.
"She was an all-around athlete," said her nephew Mike Kollman of Libertyville. "She actually made the U.S. women's Olympic team as a shot put and discus thrower, though she never actually competed, and she was a club champion in golf and bowling."
Kowell was the starting catcher on the Bloomer's national championship team. Emery Parichy started the National Girls Baseball League in 1945 with Charles Bidwill, former owner of the NFL's Chicago Cardinals. The league operated until 1955.
Parichy traveled to Ohio to sign Kowell when she was 21 years old.
She never knew how he discovered her, though she had been a standout in high school in basketball and track and had played on local traveling softball teams.
The Parichy Bloomer Girls played in Parichy Stadium, built by Parichy in 1934 in memory of his son, who had died in World War I.
The stadium was at Harlem Avenue and Harrison Street in Forest Park, where the team played to sellout crowds.
The league had six professional teams that played in the Chicago area, including Des Plaines, Chicago and Forest Park.
They often played teams from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, made famous by the movie "A League of Their Own," which went on to overshadow the National Girls league in later years, according to memorabilia dealer Sports Artifacts in Carmel, California.
It also said collectibles from the National Girls Baseball League are valuable.
"My aunt didn't talk about her baseball days much," Kollman said, "but she did have a corner in her home where she had all of her memorabilia and sports awards."
Kowell never married. She devoted her adult life to teaching and coaching, including in youth leagues in Portage Park and surrounding Chicago neighborhoods before moving to Hoffman Estates.
"She was a pioneer," Kollman said. "She was competing in women's sports long before Title IX and she personified all of its benefits, from confidence to leadership."
Kollman added that his family remembers her "as an educator, teacher and coach who taught us about the mental aspects of sports, from being confident and well-prepared to working hard."
Kowell is survived by many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of her life is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Covenant Church of Schaumburg, 301 N. Meacham Road, Schaumburg.