Ex-Manhasset teacher John MacGowan dies
John MacGowan - better known as Jack - could have sung on Broadway, but he joined the Coast Guard as war loomed in the 1930s and later taught and coached several sports in Manhasset schools for three decades.
He could have just played golf in 30 years of retirement, but he devoted himself to a Rhode Island historic museum and served on numerous association boards there and in Arizona.
A couple of weeks shy of his 93rd birthday, he died Wednesday in Newport, R.I.
"He was wonderfully happy just being himself," said his oldest son, Andrew, of Middletown, R.I.
"The things he did in his life were unbelievable. He was a remarkable man."
MacGowan grew up in Southampton and after finishing high school, he moved to Manhattan at age 16 to work at a paper company and take singing lessons toward a career on the stage.
"He had a special tenor voice," his son said.
It was the Great Depression and he couldn't afford to go to college, so when World War II began to brew in Europe, he joined the Coast Guard. He spent years helping to ferry soldiers and equipment across the Atlantic Ocean, and he also joined the Coast Guard Quartet, one of several singing groups that helped raise war bonds.
The war changed his mind about what to do with his life, Andrew MacGowan said, so he went to Syracuse University on the GI Bill and then began a long teaching career in Manhasset, focusing mainly on history.
Jack MacGowan co-wrote a history textbook, devised a method for teaching grammar, taught in India in the 1950s as part of an exchange program and served a year as director of the U.S. International School in Trieste, Italy.
After retiring, he and his wife, Lorraine, moved to Rhode Island. There, they worked at Smith's Castle, a historic site in North Kingstown, living on the grounds and giving tours.
Jack MacGowan also continued to play golf.
"He was one of those people who shot 80 in his 80th year," Andrew MacGowan said.
In 1994, friends and golf lured him to live in Arizona, but he eventually returned to Rhode Island to be near his children again.
In addition to his wife, Lorraine, and son Andrew, he is survived by two other sons, William of Middletown and John of Newport; a daughter, Laurie Warner of Newport; a brother, Gordon of Bayport; and seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. One of his nephews is Newsday reporter Carl MacGowan. Another daughter, Margaret Fielding, died in 1999.
A memorial service will take place 1 p.m. Saturday at the Seamen's Church Institute in Newport.
Contributions may be made to the Recreational Services, c/o University of Rhode Island Sailing Team, 6 Rhody Ram Way, Kingston, RI 02881.
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