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Sean T. McGowan Obituary

Sean T. McGowan, 54, of Henderson, died Jan. 22, 2007, at the Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas after a courageous 13 month battle with mantle cell lymphoma. He was born Aug. 19, 1952, in Appleton, Minn., attended high school in St. Paul, Minn., graduated from the University of Arizona in 1974 and its law school in 1978.

He spent his entire professional career in various legal positions in Nevada and Arizona including a judicial clerkship in Fallon; as a deputy attorney general in both Carson City and Las Vegas including a stint as counsel to the State Gaming Control Board and Nevada Gaming Commission; as a corporate counsel to Del Webb Corporation in both Las Vegas and Phoenix; several positions with various prominent Las Vegas law firms; and became North Las Vegas City Attorney in 1999, a position he held at the time of his death.

He was a member of the Nevada and Arizona Bar Associations and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. He served as a member of the Clark County Board of Equalization and the Advisory Task Force Reunified Development Code. He was a member of the Clark County Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and throughout his legal career, he helped mentor many new attorneys.

A loving, caring and supportive father, he coached baseball, basketball and soccer for both his children and attended all of their sports activities. He was passionate about all sports and in particular for University of Arizona where he played basketball for one year. Baseball and travel being additional passions, he visited numerous major league baseball stadiums while on trips through 49 states and several foreign countries, including one year in Israel on a kibbutz where he learned to speak Hebrew.

Lately, he was an avid student of Spanish and he helped start the Spanish program at St. Viator School. One of his goals was to dream in Spanish. He loved the Pacific Ocean and spent many weekends on the beach in San Diego. He was active in the Boy Scouts and served as a merit badge advisor.

He is survived by a son, Cullen; daughter, Courtney; and former wife, Tamara Bybee-McGowan, all of Henderson; his parents, Martin and Elizabeth McGowan of St. Paul, Minn.; six brothers, Martin III (Pat) of Cranford, N.J., Dan (Pam) of St. Paul, Vince (Teresa) of Eagan, Minn., Kevin of Eden Prairie, Minn., Brendan of St. Paul, and Michael (Joy) of Eagan, Minn.; two sisters, Margaret McGowan of Honolulu, and Maureen (Paul) Sinkler of Chanhassen, Minn.; numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Palm Valley View Memorial Park, at 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at St. Viator Catholic Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. Memorials are preferred to Nevada Cancer Institute, St. Viator Catholic Parish and School, and the children's education fund being establish at Bank of America

(Published by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Jan. 23, 2007)