HARPSWELL — Clara Douglass McGowen, 92, of Harspwell, died June 18 at Parkview Memorial Hospital.

She was born July 1, 1920, in Cornish, the oldest daughter of Leroy Morgan Douglass and Viola Lowell Douglass. She grew up in Cornish and graduated from Cornish High School.

McGowen  was a member of the Cornish Federated Church and later the Orr’s and Bailey Island United Church. She was a past president and life member of the Harpswell Islands School PTA. She was also a member of the Francis Sullivan American Legion in Cornish and past president of the John Leo Murray American Legion Auxiliary, Unit 171 of Harpswell.

McGowen was married to Alan Carl McGowen, son of Carl E. McGowen and Elsie G. McGowen, in Cornish on Aug. 11, 1940. They lived in Cornish and West Baldwin until moving to Harpswell in 1952. She was employed as an operator for the New England Telephone Company in Cornish for eight years, and was an Avon representative in Harpswell for over 20 years. The McGowens spent many winters in Titusville, Fla.

McGowen was predeceased by her husband of 64 years in 2004 and a brother, Clinton L. Douglass, of Fryeburg.

She is survived by her sisters Gladys Douglas Edmondson, of Rome, Ga., and Rosalie Douglas Burt, of Ohio and Fort Myers, Fla.; brother Fred L. Douglass, of West Baldwin; sister-in-law Elaine McGowen Bride; brothers-in-law Neil W. McGowen, of Orono, and Bruce F. McGowen, of Lewiston; three sons and their wives, Alan C. McGowen II and his wife Cynthia, of Lincoln, Mich., Scott L. McGowen and his wife Katherine, of South Dakota and Arizona, and Jay L. McGowen and Barbara, of Orr’s Island and Indian Harbor Beach, Fla.; and nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations may be made to Cundy’s Harbor Fire Department or the Orr’s/Bailey Islands Fire Department.

A funeral service was held Tuesday at the Brackett Funeral Home with the Rev. Ron McLaughlin officiating. Interment will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, in the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Mount Vernon Road, Augusta. 

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