Robert G. McGowan ’51 died on February 26, 2013, in St. Louis, Missouri.

He was born in Waterville, on May 17, 1929, and prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy. He attended Bowdoin from 1947 to 1949, where he was a member of Zeta Psi fraternity and an All-American swimmer.

He served as vice president of Ralston Purina and World Bank and was a successful business owner. He is survived by his wife, Sally Osborn McGowan; daughters Sue Jacobs, Sally Rasmussen, and Margaret Letts; son Robert McGowan Jr.; stepdaughter Kim Conner; sisters Terry McGowan Heavey and Rosemary Phillips; brother David McGowan; eleven grandchildren; and seventeen great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Alma Mae Ward McGowan, and by his brother, John McGowan Jr.