Dr. Charles E. McGowan
1931-2019
WESTFORD – Dr. Charles E. McGowan, a well-known and beloved oral and
maxillofacial surgeon, practiced for over 31 years in Lowell and
Nashua, NH passed away on Sunday, October 27, 2019. He was the devoted
husband of the late Marie L. (Louis) McGowan for 60 years until her
passing in 2016. He recovered from a brief illness and was released
from Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley on Thursday, October 24. He
told the Medical Director at the rehabilitation center that he had
obligations and things he needed to do. Charlie attended his 70th
Winchester High School Reunion in Burlington the next day. He died
four days later and just one day shy of the third anniversary of his
wife Laurie’s passing.
Charlie was born on July 27, 1931 in Woburn, MA, the son of Charles E.
and Lucy A. (Baylis) McGowan. He graduated from Winchester High School
in 1949. He attended Tufts University and completed admission
requirements in three undergraduate years and was accepted into the
Tufts Dental School. Charlie was a lieutenant in the Navy Dental
Reserve Corps and had active duty at Boston’s First Naval
District in the Charlestown Shipyard.
Charlie and Laurie met on a blind date on New Year’s Eve in 1952
and the rest is history. Cardinal Cushing married them on June 9, 1956
and the day after their wedding they both attended their respective
college graduations.
He lived a rich life of 88 years and was a true Renaissance man. He
loved hunting, fishing, boating, gardening, skiing, woodworking and
skeet shooting. Truthfully there wasn’t anything Charlie
couldn’t do. If there was a will there was a way. He was a
devoted customer of L.L. Bean since his early teens and proudly shared
his collection with their corporate archives. His Dyer boat “Lan
Mara” (Gaelic for “High Tide”) was moored in
Quissett Harbor and was a joy for many family and friends. He was
generous, kind, and compassionate. He and Laurie loved entertaining
and hosting family and friends. Who in their right mind would invite a
dozen people over for a holiday or gathering? Fortunately they had the
largest heart and home to host many occasions.
Charlie and Laurie loved to travel and visited Europe countless times.
Winter travel included tropical places including weeks at a time in
St. Barts where they became friends with the locals as they did
everywhere they traveled.
He had a knack for limericks, storytelling, and conversation. He wrote
a book, “Cross Border Tales” in 2015, as a memoir
including his New Brunswick, Canada family history and took great
pride in publishing it. He set up a scholarship in his uncle’s
name and all proceeds from the sales of his book go to a Nackawic High
School senior graduate.
His pride and joy was his large family – eight girls and two
boys – a true Irish Catholic Family. Charlie and Laurie were only
children so they certainly made up for it and were very unselfish.
They raised their family in Chelmsford, Westford, and Falmouth, MA. In
the earlier years they owned a second home in Ashland, NH and their
children were taught to ski, fish, hunt and enjoy the outdoors. His
children are Laurie A. (David) Dionne and children Lindsey, Cassandra,
Andrew, and Patrick of Texas, Charles E. Jr. (Joanna) of Scituate and
sons Charles III and Matthew of Whitman and New Bedford, Jean M.
(James) Burbine of Maine and daughters Jacqueline and Kelley of
Clinton, Margaret A. (John) Mahan and children Sarah, Jack, Kelan, and
Maggie of Andover, Laurence J. (Nancy) McGowan and Larry Jr., Lauren,
and Nicole of Virginia, Mary A. (Matthew) Mulkern and daughters
Shannon and Meaghan of Westford, Elizabeth (Leonard) Jolles of
Framingham and children Kate and Paul of Worcester and Somerville,
Christine E. (Paul) Donahue and children Edward, Ella, and Kiera of
Winchester, Paula Kondos and daughters Lily and Ruby of Maine, and
Katherine E. (Hilary) Davis and children Meredith, Colby, and
Charlotte of Falmouth and ten great grandchildren.
Visiting Hours will be held on Sunday from 1:00 – 6:00 pm at the Blake
Chelmsford Funeral Home, 24 Worthen St., Chelmsford.
His Mass of Christian Burial will be on Monday at 10 o’clock at St.
Catherine of Alexandria Church, 107 N. Main St., WESTFORD.
Interment will be held privately.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to: The George
Rockwell Memorial Scholarship. Nackawic High School, c/o Sean
Newlands, Principal, 30 Landegger Drive, Nackawic, New Brunswick,
Canada E6G 1E9.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Dr Charles E McGowan 19312019..
Death notice for the town of: Nackawic, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick