Warren David McGowan

August 28, 1928 - December 17, 2020

Dateline: Godfrey Warren David McGowan, 92, of Godfrey, IL passed away peacefully on December 17, 2020 after a short illness. Warren grew up in Port Clinton, Ohio and after high school joined the US Navy. He was part of in the Antarctic expedition Operation Highjump, serving on an icebreaker and in the Mediterranean serving on the aircraft carrier Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After his naval service he attended The Ohio State University studying engineering. He worked as an aeronautical engineer for North American Aviation after college, working on the A5J Vigilante and the OV10 Bronco projects among others. He joined McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis in 1970 and was part of the team that designed the Space Shuttle as well as F-15 Eagle and the F-18 Super Hornet. He retired from McDonnell Douglas in 1985. Warren was preceded in death by his first wife Charlotte (Williams) McGowan in 2001 and his second wife Deloris Jean (Baker) Reese in early 2020. Warren and Charlotte were married in 1953 and had three children: Stephanie McGowan Moidel and her husband Ronald of Glen Carbon, Steven McGowan and his wife Janet of Florissant, and Michael McGowan of Black Jack who predeceased his father in 2004. Warren is survived by his four grandchildren and eight great grandchildren and his younger sister Mrs. Patricia Coldwell of Marion, Ohio and her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He is also survived by the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of his late sister Mrs. Evelyn Brock. Due to the pandemic no services will be held. Contributions if you wish to donate in Warren’s memory should be made to your local food bank.