Mary Lou McGowan

Visitation is 5:00-8:00pm Friday, September 7, 2012 at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl. Funeral services are 10:00am Saturday, September 8, 2012 in the funeral home chapel with interment in Crestview Memorial Gardens, Brandon.

Mary was born November 7, 1942 in New Orleans, Louisiana, the eldest daughter of the late Hubert Beach and Thelma Harvey Beach. She married her true love, Hugh V. McGowan, on June 13, 1959 at the age of 16. Within months, they moved to Houston, Texas where they settled and raised their beloved daughter, Tammie and niece, Beverly.

Mary was a life-long member of The Salvation Army Church and was employed for 30 years as their receptionist and statistician in the Houston, Texas area.

Survivors include her husband, Hugh; daughter, Tammie McGowan Hamilton and husband Steven; granddaughters, Jennifer Peterson and fiancé Brandon Andrus and Jeanette Andrews; niece, Beverly Barnes; sisters, Linda Kuhn and Jewel McCrory; brother-in-law, Jimmy McGowan; numerous nieces and nephews; and her canine companions, GiGi, P.J. and Sam.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or the Mississippi Baptist Medical Center's Hederman Cancer Center at www.mbhs.org.