LILLIAN
VERA McGOWAN of Plainfield, NJ passed away peacefully in her
home on Friday, July 15, 2016 at the age of 92.
Lillian, better known as “Puggy” to her close friends and family was
born on May 21, 1924 in Harlem, NY and raised in New Brunswick, NJ.
Lillian graduated from New Brunswick High School in
1941 and during her high school years she was involved in different sports but
excelled in basketball. She began her
professional career in 1953 with the Plainfield Public library where she worked
for 36 years before retiring on July 31, 1989.
At the age of 18 she relocated to Plainfield and on
July 13, 1942 she married the love of her life, Daniel “Danny” McGowan. Eleven years after their marriage, Lillian
and Danny purchased their first home on Spooner Avenue making them the first
African American homeowners in that neighborhood. During their 50+ years of marriage, Lillian
and Danny were blessed to travel throughout the United States, Europe, the
Caribbean and the West Indies. And with each trip they would call the family
together, pull out the movie projector to watch 8mm tapes for hours – yes 8mm
tapes of their vacations.
It was important to Lillian to make sure her
children enjoyed their childhood so there were frequent visits to the Jersey
shore and amusement parks like Coney Island and Palisades Park. She was also adamant about introducing her
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to the joys of reading, and
they can attest that The Jungle Book and Where the Wild Things Are
were two of the first books she read to them. And without a doubt she made sure
that her great grandchildren had every Dr. Suess book ever written. Even as
Lillian’s family grew family values and traditions remained. Every year she would host either Thanksgiving
dinner or Christmas dinner where the day did not end without a game of charades. And not to say our grandmother cheated, but
somehow her team always seemed to win.
And the most exciting part of Christmas would be the gift from Gramma
& Pop Pop because you knew it was going to be great.
Lillian was extremely generous. Whether it was assisting financially, or
opening her home to help others get on their feet, she was always willing to
help her immediate family and extended family in any way she could.
As an avid lover of the theater Lillian was a
member of the Crossroads Theater group in New Brunswick, NJ and one of her
favorite pass times was taking in Broadway shows. Puggy also loved crossword puzzles and at any
given time you could find her at her kitchen table with the NY Times crossword
puzzles – completing them with no real trouble at all, while enthusiastically
watching whatever football was on.
Lillian was a member of the Rose of Sharon
Community Church for over 70 years, originally under the pastoral leadership of
Rev. Ovie Lattimore. She served as a
volunteer in the church office for many years and on the hospitality
committee. She was later appointed as a
church Mother by her much loved Pastor Bishop LaVerne Ball.
Although frail in
body, the woman we know as Ma, Gramma, GramGram, Aunt Puggy, Lillian and Mother
McGowan kept her love for people, her humor and quick wit even to the end.
Left to cherish her memory are her brother William
Patterson of New Brunswick, NJ, her sister Edith Collins of Plainfield, NJ, her
daughter Carolyn Reese of Lawrenceville, GA, her son Robert McGowan (Virginia)
of Plainfield, NJ, her two step-sons Daniel McGowan (Shirley) of Jersey City,
NJ and Ronald McGowan (Maria) of Bayonne, NJ, 14 grandchildren, 25
great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Lillian was preceded in death by her husband
Danny McGowan and her sisters Marjorie Patterson and Flora Taylor.
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