Robert Paul McGowan (78) of Effingham

Robert Paul “Bob” McGowan, 78, of Effingham, IL, passed away on Friday, November 18, 2022, at the Marion VA Medical Center in Marion, IL. He was admitted to the Marion VA Medical Center on August 18, 2021.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, 2023 at Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham. Burial in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Effingham with military rites. Visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday prior to the service at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made in Bob’s memory to the First Presbyterian Church in Effingham or the American Cancer Society. Online condolences may be shared by clicking here.

Robert was born on September 18, 1944, in Long Beach, CA, the son of Charles W. and Eileen McGowan. Bob was raised in both Compton, CA and Bellflower, CA, where he graduated from Bellflower High School in 1962. Bob attended Carritos Junior College in Norwalk, CA in 1967, which was interrupted by with two years of active duty with the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War. He was on the U.S.S. Mars Supply Ship. Bob also served in the U.S. Navy Reserves for 25 years, retiring in 1990.

Bob then attended California State University in Long Beach, CA for two years, and then part-time for seven years earning his Master’s Degree in civil engineering. Bob left California in 1980 and moved to Indiana, where he worked as a civil engineer. He then moved to Northern Illinois, and worked as a civil engineer for DuPage County, Wheaton, IL. Bob had three civil engineering licenses (California, Indiana, and Illinois) before his retirement in 2016.

Bob met his wife Mary Lynn Nord at a single’s dance club in St. Charles, IL in early 1988. Their first date was on March 5, and they were married on September 3, 1988; Bob was 44 and Mary Lynn was 42. They lived in Geneva, Warrenville, and Naperville, IL before moving to Effingham in May of 2016.

Bob is survived by his wife, Mary Lynn McGowan of Effingham; brother, Richard (Jeanne) McGowan of Anaheim, CA; brothers-in-law, William (Sally) Nord of Palm Coast, FL and Kenneth Nord of Warren, MI; nephews, Michael McGowan of Costa Mesa, CA, and Jason (Jaime) Nord of Plymouth, MI; and niece, Karissa DeLeon of Hawaii.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Charles McGowan III; and nephew, Brian Nord.