Obituary: Owen Comora

Owen Comora loved birds long before he became a member of the Sarasota Audubon Society.

As a child growing up in North Bergen, N.J., Comora started noticing birds and studying them. His daughter, Cathy, recalled a story her father, who died Jan. 27 at age 84, used to tell.

When he first learned about birding, he saw a schoolmate with a pair of binoculars watching a bird.

He approached the young boy, and asked if he was birding. His classmate was at first defensive, answering, “Yeah, what of it?”

Comora told him he wanted to learn more about the hobby, and they became friends.

The love of birds followed him through the rest of his life, which will be celebrated 11 a.m. March 12, during an Audubon Society dedication at the Celery Fields Nature Center. The Sarasota Audubon Board of Directors voted to name a spot in the Nature Center gardens, “Owen’s Grove.”

After working as TV publicist, first for NBC and then with his own company, Owen Comora and Associates, Comora retired to Sarasota in 1998 with his wife, Betty, a local jazz musician, and joined the Audubon Society. He finally could return to his passion of studying birds.

He spearheaded the bird naturalist program at both Myakka River State Park and the Celery Fields. The program put a bird naturalist volunteer on the boardwalks at the two parks to help visitors learn about and identify birds. Comora was featured in the Oct. 20, 2011 issue of the Sarasota Observer for his passion for birding. In the story, Comora said he had recorded 645 species of bird thus far in his life. His favorite? The sandhill crane.

Cathy Comora said people would visit the Celery Fields on Thursday mornings, when he was on his volunteer shift.

“He made birding excited,” she said.

Cathy herself didn’t become interested in the hobby until she moved to Sarasota four years ago. She started visiting the parks with her father and learning about the hobby.

Comora is survived by his wife, Betty; their three children, Michael, Cathy and David Comora; and four grandchildren. Owen and Betty were married 59 years.

Donations in his honor can be sent to Sarasota Audubon Society, 999 Center Road, Sarasota, FL 34240. Funds will be used for upkeep of the gardens and the nature center.