Michael McGowan

1938 - 2018

Michael Edward McGowan On October 11, 2018, a beautiful, crisp and sunny fall morning in the Pacific Northwest, Mike McGowan, 80, passed away at his home on Wollochet Bay in Gig Harbor. Mike was born to Edward and Ellen McGowan on September 18, 1938, in Tacoma, Washington. During the early years of his life, Mike attended public schools near his home in South Tacoma. As a boy, Mike realized that hard work would allow him to have a new pair of ice skates or an English racer bicycle. Thus, he found jobs like babysitting and mowing lawns as most young people did. In his pre-teen years, Mike energetically sought out an opportunity to work for a local grocer "trimming lettuce" in a North Tacoma store. This experience directed Mike's path towards a lifetime in the food business. Following high school graduation, Mike entered the University of Washington. During those three years of college he worked for Ray's Supermarkets (now QFC), joined Psi Upsilon fraternity, all the while attending classes full time. In 1958, seeing the value of higher education, he transferred to Michigan State University to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Food Distribution. It was at MSU that Mike met Wendy Rauser, his future wife of 54 years. On a shoestring budget, the two spent many an hour strolling around campus and Beaumont Tower. After graduation from MSU, Mike entered the Coast Guard and was stationed in Alameda, California. Returning to Washington, at age 22 Mike obtained his first supermarket management position at a store he ran for two years. Determined to get a Masters Degree in Business, he applied to Columbia University in New York City. Two weeks after graduation in September 1964 Mike and Wendy married in Michigan, settled in the greater Tacoma area and Mike went to work for Klauser Corporation. Mike filled many management positions at the Klauser Corporation grew and in 1975 he took the helm of the corporation, purchasing the company from the founder, Russ Klauser. Ultimately he opened eight supermarkets in Pierce and King counties. A big man, with a big heart, his employees always called him "Big Mike", as did many of his friends. It was rumored that if Mike was visiting any one of the stores that word spread through the building from employee to employee that Big Mike was on the premises. Spending 60 some years in the food business, Mike was voted 1982 Washington State Retailer of the Year, was an active member of the Food Marketing Institute in Washington D.C., the Washington State Food Dealers Board of Directors, the Associated Grocers Board of Directors, and the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council. Mike received many accolades during his years in the food business, but he always thanked his mentors, Russ Klauser, Ray Rhodes, Jack Shaw, Sib Carstens and Robert and Virginia Hayden for his successes. Business endeavors outside of the grocery business included: owner of Costco Leasing, a partner in Leaseco Leasing, a partner in KAMG Associates, a partner in Girard Custom Coaters, and served as a board director of First Security Bank. Mike joined the Rotary Club of Lakewood in 1968. He and his mentor, Russ Klauser, spearheaded the club's efforts to raise money for the Rotary Foundation and the Paul Harris Society. After becoming a Paul Harris member in 1974, Mike instituted the "$2-per-week program" that enabled others to gradually achieve Paul Harris Society membership. To date, the Lakewood club has awarded nearly 300 Paul Harris Fellowships and has donated over one million dollars to the Foundation. Mike was also an integral member of Lakewood Rotary's team to raise funds for the Charles "Cap" Peterson Renal Dialysis Center, a unit at St. Joseph's Hospital to honor the memory of Rotary member and good friend, Cap Peterson. Mike also took pride in helping establish the Rotary's NextStep Program and was honored with Rotarian of the Year in 1990. Rotary became one of the most significant elements of Mike's life. Mike also served on the Tacoma Rescue Mission Advisory Board, the Pierce County Health Department Board of Advisors, the Board of Directors for the local chapter of the American Heart Association and the Board of Directors for the Lakewood General Hospital. Education and mentoring young people was Mike's passion. For nearly 35 years, Mike and Wendy advised local high school students and guided them through the college application process. They counseled more than thirty students, many of whom attended prestigious colleges and became successful entrepreneurs, financiers, scientists and teachers. Mike and Wendy's college "spreadsheets" and counsel served as a template for the Lakewood Rotary's NextStep Program. Mike often recounted that the most rewarding part of mentoring young people was learning about the students' professional and personal achievements many years later. One student recently wrote Mike and Wendy to let them know that they had "opened [her] eyes to the opportunities that the world has to offer". Mike furthered his ardor for education by serving on the Board of Directors at Charles Wright Academy and the Clover Park Vocational Technical Institute Advisory Board, the latter in which he helped establish the Store Clerk Training Program. Mike and the Lakewood Rotary Club also launched efforts to bring the International Baccalaureate Program to the Clover Park School District. In addition, Mike was appointed to the Pierce College Board of Directors by former Governor Dixie Lee Ray and to the Washington State Accreditation Council for Education by former Governor Booth Gardner. Mike was also on the Board of Advisors for the MBA Program at Pacific Lutheran University and the Stanford University Parents Fund Advisory Committee. In 1984, Mike received a Private Sector Initiative Commendation from President Reagan at the Washington Press Club in Washington D.C. for citizen involvement in education. Mike was also a member of the Tacoma Country and Golf Club and the Lakewood Racquet Club and treasured his time on the court and at the Club with his "cronies". Mike is predeceased by his mother, Ellen, and his father, Edward. He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and his two daughters, Kelly (Tim, children Jack and Brynn) and Megan (Alan, children Matteson, Aela, Josh and Eden), and his sister Maureen Peterson. A memorial service will be held at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 10630 Gravelly Lake Dr. SW in Lakewood on Sunday, October 21st at 3:00 p.m. Reception to follow. Mike often shared his guiding principle, printed on the back of his business card, with others: "This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or grow in its light and be of service to others. But what I do with this day is important, because I have exchanged a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. I hope I will not regret the price I have paid for it." We will miss you.