KOWALSKI, James P., 63, a resident of Mechanicsville, Va., died at home on Tuesday, December 14, 2010, after a courageous battle with cancer. James was born May 17, 1947, in Pittsburgh, Pa., the second son of Charles J. Kowalski and Elizabeth Boyle Kowalski. He was a Vietnam era veteran of the U.S. Navy and a member of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity at California (Pa.) State College. For more than 20 years, he was the plant manager at Showcase Woodworking Ltd., in Ashland, Va., until the plant's recent closure. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Carol Perkinson Kowalski, whom he married on May 24, 1969; and by two daughters, Kirsten Kowalski and her fiance, Ed Eatman, of Richmond, and Casey Kowalski Quigley and her husband, Brian Quigley, of Mount Clare, W.Va. He is also survived by two sisters, Janet Hatch of Altoona, Pa. and Elizabeth Balaschak of Monument Beach, Mass.; and three brothers, C. Russell Kowalski of Wicomico Church, Va., John Thomas Kowalski of Duncansville, Pa., and Kevin M. Kowalski of Ligonier, Pa.; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. A private burial was held on December 18, 2010 at Greene County Memorial Park in Waynesburg, Pa. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in James' name be made to Hospice of Virginia, 7231 Forest Ave., Suite 100, Richmond, Va. 23226. This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.