Eulogy for Martin McGowan Jr. delivered by his son, Marty III, on the occasion of
his funeral mass at Holy Childhood parish on Midway Pkwy in St Paul MN
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The coincidence is Marty Jr's funeral was on son Sean's birthday, Marty Jr having died on son Marty III's birthday not quite a week before.
On behalf of Mom (Betty), Dad's sister Ellie (Simcoe), Dad and Mom's children, grandchildren, and now 4 great-grandchildren, welcome and thank you for coming to remember and honor Martin J McGowan Jr.
In addition to his and Mom's great family, Dad's signature accomplishments were in journalism and in the legislature. Special thank to those of you here representing these callings. In the light, one of the great lessons he taught me is there is no higher calling than public service or in the business of informing the public. One of the founders wrote that an informed citizenry is essential to the public welfare and order. Martin J McGowan Jr lived that lesson as well as any. Dad would use liberal philosophy as the best means of making the connection between informing the public and serving the public.
Dad was born to Martin James Sr and Olga Vieg in October, 1920. His mother, Olga died from TB when Dad was less than three. I digress, but in addition to Dad's wonderful obituary, you can listen to him recount some of the events in his life in a StoryCorps interview. This is/will be playing,....
In addition to Dad's liberal political outlook, he was also a man of faith. He followed his father as a trustee of St John's in Appleton, and saw the building of the modern building now housing the parish. In practice of the faith, I well remember him making the sign of the cross as we passed a Catholic church. The family rosary was a staple of our growing up years. In the StoryCorps interview, he recounts that he never knew his mother and was looking forward to meeting her in their next life.
Dad and Mom raised us nine children in more or less 3 groups of 3, sometimes recognized as the "old" 3, "middle" 3, and in much earlier times "little" three. The old trio was myself, then Dan, and Meg. After a 4 year hiatus, we added Vince, Kev, and Sean, and after 4 more, Brendan, and Maureen, who share a birthday a year apart. After a few more years, Mike made the family complete. This following story is mythic, or indeed true; When Mike was about 5, by this time, we lived across the street on Frankson Ave. And the old three are in college. Mike asks Dad, "Dad, how come there are so many of us?" (apparently he has few friends who come from families of nine). Dad didn't have to think about it too long before replying, "Well Mike, we had to have all those other kids to get to you!"
In Dad's life, the community may have come first, but never at the exclusion of the family. Listening to the StoryCorps interview, I'm reminded of how pained he was by the separation caused by his service in the legislature. At first, it comes across as how to fill the void, then realizing the family responsibilities having to be squeezed into a weekend. Moving the family to St Paul was his way to bring the two: family and public service together.
This move ultimately focused the family on the Twin Cites, the middle three all graduating from high school here. And five now are living here. In the mean time, Mom and Dad moved to Blue Earth, where the young three all graduated, then on to St Cloud, and finally retirement on Pelican Lake on land from the Nolan homestead. They've lived in Lyngblomsten for much of this decade.
As many of you know, we lost Sean in early '07 in Las Vegas. That Mom and Dad couldn't make it to his funeral was one of the big disappointments in his life.
Dad's days and considerable accomplishments in the newspaper business are well-chronicled in the obituary. His signature column over any of his newspapers, in particular the Appleton Press and the Blue Earth Post was "The Cubs Corner". He regarded his father's "Martinis" as the better writing. But his may have reached more, in particular with his ability to relate the trials and travails of raising a tribe of nine.
What were Dad's joys in life? In addition to really loving the family, the news, and politics, what were his own things. First (and possibly last), the HAM radio. For those too young, no, we didn't make radios out of ham, but that's what we called amateur radio operators. He enjoyed making radios, before the transistor, and stereo FM. He was proud of his certificates for "Worked All Continents", and "Worked 200 countries", exchanging cards with those he talked to around the world. He was part of a local community who gathered on 2 meters, long before Facebook... Dad was proud of his call-sign: W0(ZERO) U G V, "Uncle George Victor". He retained an interest to the air-waves to his last days.
His love of politics included welcoming the likes of Hubert Humphrey and Gene McCarthy to Appleton on their campaigns. The curious among you can ask Dan the story behind the "Humphrey Slept Here" bed. The only opposition he had in his 1960 campaign were those letter-writers who wanted to take their distrust of Catholics in the White House to the local races. But he felt well-supported by and supportive of the people of Swift County. Dad's recreation was the game of golf. A few of us took it up, but more importantly, the Appleton Golf Club provided may pleasant evenings for the family. I'm sure Mom and Dad look on the Appleton years with nostalgic fondness.
It would be hard to pin the label "passionate" on Dad, but his love of the game of baseball came close enough. Among the family email venues, "mcgowansbaseball", generates as much energy as "mcgowanspolitics". Dan and Vince took up the game through high school, and Sean demonstrated the most accomplishment. Baseball offers us a way to begin to close the circle.
Mom and Dad's 1943 honeymoon was on the fourth of July weekend, and war-time brief, only to Duluth for the weekend. Dad and Mom discussed it this way: "Let's get married on the fourth of July weekend, since we can always gather a party for the anniversaries". A few years later they took a "proper" honeymoon, traveling east to the baseball destinations of Chicago (White Sox and Cubs), and Boston (Red Sox and Braves — check your BB history). Mom, since her days as a college newspaper editor, had shared her wisdom, to "Never marry a newspaper man". She might have added "especially if he's a baseball fan"
The 3rd of July Anniversary proved to be the enduring family tradition. Mom and Dad had been on Beaver Lake out of St Cloud when their grandchildren were young and we all recall many fun moments there. Retirement, and their moved to Pelican continued the tradition. Dan has held the anniversary celebration on West Twin out of Nisswa for many years. Last year was a particularly important anniversary when Mom and Dad met their first great-grandchild. But we knew it was the end of an era when Dad's mobility limited his ability to climb the steps. Our unstated recognition was last month's gathering on Dan's back porch might be Dad's last, but not lose him so soon. Meg had returned to get Mom and Dad settled in their new quarters at Lyngblomsten, and they were settling into their new situations.
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