Helen M. Macgowan

The beginning of her life was spent an ocean away in another port town, Campbeltown, Scotland. She left her childhood home to work as a clerk in the city of Glasgow and it was there that she met her husband, the late Carroll M. Macgowan, an admiral in the U.S. Navy. At age 19, she crossed the Atlantic to live with her new husband in Portland, Maine. For the past 70 years, she has made the city of Portland her home. She raised two sons, worked at Key Bank, was a past matron of the Iona Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, a member of the St. Lawrence Congregational Church, and more recently a member of the North Deering Congregational Church. After the death of her first husband, she married the late John Macgowan.

Helen will be remembered for her quick wit, generosity of spirit, and sense of humor. She was an individual with her own personal gravity that would draw people towards her. Helen was as generous a person as they come. She would give you the shirt off her back, but remind you with a smile that it looked better on her. Her happiest moments were those spent entertaining friends and family in her beautiful home. For a woman with so many interesting stories of her own, she spent most of her time listening and always had a genuine interest in the details of others’ lives. She spent countless hours sitting in her arm chair listening and sharing the news.

She is survived by her son Carroll M. Macgowan, Jr. and his wife Rachel Macgowan, of Cumberland, Maine; her son Kenneth Macgowan and his wife Kathryn Macgowan, of Falmouth, Maine; her nephew Stuart McGaw and his wife Janette McGaw of Skelmorlie, Scotland; her brother-in-law, Merrill Macgowan; her grandchildren, Cory Macgowan, Garrett Macgowan, Trent Macgowan, Carroll Macgowan III, Victoria Reed, and Alexandra Lowry; and many great-grandchildren.

Friends and family are invited to attend a time of visitation on Tuesday April 21, 2015 from 11 to 1PM with a funeral service at 1:00PM in the Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home 199 Woodford St. Portland, Maine. Interment will be at a later date in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Falmouth. On-Line condolences can be given to the family at www.jonesrichandhutchins.com. In lieu of flowers donations can be given to the Animal Refuge League 449 Stroudwater St. Westbrook, ME 04092.