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Helen (Sandy) Gowan� 

She was born Helen Raney in Portland, Oregon on September 3, 1927 and died in Boulder, Colorado on June 7, 2017, a few months short of her 90th�birthday. She was called Sandy because she had light hair while the rest of her family�were dark-haired. 

Her family moved several times and wound up in Bayside, New York, where she graduated from high school and began attending Hunter College. Her college education was interrupted when she met a returning World War II veteran, Thomas Eugene (Gene) Gowan at an American Youth Hostel New Year's Eve party and married him�seven months later�on July 11, 1946. They both went to college nights until children began to arrive. Michael, then Katherine in '48 and '49. They�moved a couple more times to larger houses, farther east on Long Island to accommodate two more children, Peter and James in '51 and '54. The last full house was in North Babylon, a suburban town an hour or so from New York City where Gene worked and ten minutes from the beach at the Fire Island National Seashore which they both loved. They both had family in the area, Sandy's brother George and her sister Pat, and Gene's sister Robbie. When the kids got old enough to be left at home, Sandy worked for six years as a school district station wagon driver. After she had enough driving, she returned to school to complete her Bachelor's degree in English, then continued on to get a Master's Degree in Library Science. 

For the next nineteen years, she worked at the Half Hollow Hills Community Library in Dix Hills, Long Island, as Adult Services Librarian and then as head of the Circulation Department. Librarian was the career that made her the happiest. Those years, when they became more comfortable, were good. They had season tickets to the opera. They went to the beach. The kids moved off into their own lives though family was always important to both of them. Her brother David lived in California and had three children, Patrick, Suzanne and Bill. Her sister Pat lived in Port Washington and had four boys, John, Nick, Steve and Andy. Her brother George lived in Storrs, Connecticut where he taught mathematics at the University and raised two daughters, Rebecca and Patricia. Gene's sister Robbie lived in Larchmont, New York and had two children, Sarah and John. Gene's brother Curtis had a daughter, Jennie. Even after the events of the 1980s, when Gene developed cancer and she, rheumatoid arthritis, she continued communicating with all of them. 

She retired from the library and they moved to Colorado where three of their children lived. They had a few more good years together until Gene died in Grand Junction, Colorado. Upon Gene's death, she moved to Denver and moved to the Windsor Gardens senior living condominiums, where she lived for twenty-five years. 

All her life, she loved words.�She was a great reader and as her eye sight faded she enjoyed audio books.� She kept her mental acuity nearly till the end, possibly enhancing her sharpness by constant practice. She was a very competitive Scrabble player.� She was also a good manager, who organized her finances after the death of Gene. She lived independently for 25 years at Windsor Gardens. While a resident at Windsor she organized and ran their library with a staff of volunteers. In 2014, she moved to Boulder to the Carillon which had more services available. Even there, she kept up her reading. She founded a modest�library at the Carillon, and before she died she managed to get another resident to agree to take it on. 

For the last 30 years of her life, she was treated for the progressive joint deterioration of rheumatoid arthritis, but adapted to the various changes with cheerful acceptance.� I can almost see her making a list--she was a great one for lists--checking off things she could no longer do--can't drive, check, feet hurt too much, can't go hiking, but still need to walk a bit. She really had a goal in mind to live until she was ninety, and it was just bad luck that she developed a last serious bone infection, called osteomyelitis. . 

She is survived by: Michael Gowan and his wife Susan;�Kate Baker,�her husband, Steve, and�2 grandchildren Amelia and Ernie;�Peter Gowan and his wife Faith, and 2 grandchildren, Kira and Caden; and James Zachary�Gowan.��We who survive, will miss her very much. 

Cremation has been entrusted to Blue Mountain Cremation Services. 

� 

�

�Service Information A service summary is not available

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Helen Gowan Obituary | Altogether