McGowan, Mary Rockwood

Mary Rockwood McGowan, 85, of Roanoke, VA, died Tuesday, May 29, 2007. Mrs. McGowan was born in Foxborough, MA and had been a long time resident of Hopewell before moving to Roanoke. She had a life long commitment to the Catholic Church, served on the bereavement committee, was a member of the Catholic Daughters and attended Cursillo. She also organized pilgrimages to the Shrine in Conyers, GA. She was a retired Medical Records Supervisor from Kenner Army Community Hospital at Ft. Lee and had also served as the admitting supervisor at West Virginia University Hospital. Mrs. McGowan was the daughter of the late Henry and Helen Harold Rockwood and the widow of George Andrew McGowan, Jr. She is survived by three daughters, Mary Pat Buitrago of Jacksonville, FL, Elizabeth M. Broughton, Colleen M. Hailey, both of Roanoke, VA, two sons, George A. “Spike” McGowan, III of Bridge City, TX and Kevin M. “Mike” McGowan of Prince George, VA, grandchildren, Kelly, Sara, Jason, Katie, Tonito, Andrew, Claire, Joshua, Emily, Casey, Abby, sisters, Teresa, Margaret, Helen, Patricia “Dolly”, a brother, Norman and many nieces and nephews. A Christian Wake service will be held Friday, June 1, 2007 at 7:00 PM in the Hopewell Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service with visitation to follow until 8:30 PM. A funeral mass will be held Saturday, June 2, 2007 at 11:00 AM at St. John’s Catholic Church on Squirrel Level Road, Petersburg with the Rev. John Martinez officiating. Interment will be in Merchants Hope Memorial Gardens, Prince George, VA. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN, 38105 or Father Flanagan’s Girl’s and Boy’s Town, 300 Flanagan Blvd., P.O. Box 7000, Boy’s Town, NE, 68010.