Dorothe R. McGowan
Dorothe R. (Holonich) McGowan, 97, a long-time resident of Clifton and West Windsor, New Jersey, passed peacefully on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at her daughter's home in Easton,
PA. The mother of five, grandmother of nine and greatgrandmother of four had a long, eventful and accomplished life. Dorothe was born and raised in Clifton. She was a graduate of Pope Pius High School in Passaic where she met her husband-to-be, Joseph E. McGowan. It was the classic case of the cheerleader dating the quarterback. Dorothe went on to graduate from Montclair State Teacher's College with a Bachelor's Degree in Education and a New Jersey state teaching certificate. The cheerleader and quarterback married when he returned from service in
World War II at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Clifton. They moved to Valley Road, became active in St. Phillip's Catholic Church and began to raise their five children. Dorothe taught for a number of years at School Number Five in
Clifton and eventually co-founded a nursery school in the Allwood Section. Testament to her independent spirit, she became "Dorothe with an "e" instead of a "y" in college, to distinguish herself from other Dorothy's.
In 1965, Joseph's career as a chemist required the McGowan family to move to West Windsor.
Dorothe was a homemaker during those years, raising her four daughters and son. Eventually she went back to teaching as a substitute in the West Windsor School System while completing a Master's Degree in Education at Trenton State College. Later, she studied at Rutgers University for a Doctorate in Education, but left before completing her dissertation to go back to fulltime teaching. She finished her teaching career, retiring from the Florence New Jersey Public School System.
In retirement, she and husband Joe traveled the world and her children and grandchildren were subject to many a night of watching slide shows
from their trips abroad. Later, after Joe passed, she continued traveling with her sister Eileen and brother-in-law Fred and her West Windsor friends. All told, she visited six of the seven continents.
Dorothe was predeceased by her parents, Stephen and Mary Holonich, her husband, Joseph, her daughter Mary Jo, daughter-inlaw Patricia McGowan, sons-in-law Thomas
Rose and Warren Lillie, and her sister Eileen.
She is survived by her son Michael (Joan) of Ridgewood, NJ, her daughters Karen Rose of
Easton, PA, Patricia (Paul) McManus of Franklin, MA and Coleen (Ronald) Lillie-Smith of
Northampton, PA; grandchildren Brian (Amelia), Christopher (Brienne) and Trisha McGowan, Nicholas (Crystal) and Willie Rose, Alec McManus, Jordan, Heath and Quinn Smith; and, great-children Makenna, Cameron and Ethan McGowan and Chloe Smith.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, December 29, 2022 at 11:00am at St.
David the King Roman Catholic Church, 1 New Village Road, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550. Viewing will be held at 10:00am on Thursday until the time of Mass. Burial will follow at St. Pauls Cemetery, Princeton.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Dorothe's memory to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at givenow.lls.org/give/