John Michael McGowan

I had known John since he was 8 years old and just moved to Whitestone. He lived two blocks away from me, and we would get together with Jack Dillon and Jack´s sisters to play games. I think John and I had more fun playing with the sisters than with Jack. We did have a crush on them.

One of John´s talents was to quote Shakespeare, especially after he had a few drinks in him. His quotes of Shakespeare were nothing that Shakespeare ever wrote, but if you didn´t know the difference, you could never tell it wasn´t Shakespeare. All the girls loved it; all the boys were jealous.

John was the eternal optimist. He could always find something good to say about anything. We lost contact with each other for about 35 years but were able to reconnect about 15 years ago along with two other old friends, Joe DeMarco and Steve McCarthy. We all will miss him, his Blarney, his humor, and his optimism. John Mangini

Offering our deepest condolences during this difficult time.