Gerard A. McGowan Jr. | Business owner, 54

Gerard A. McGowan Jr., 54, of Villanova, a business owner, died of cancer Tuesday at home.

Mr. McGowan grew up in Ardmore. He graduated from Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor and attended St. Joseph's University.

In 1974, he married his high school sweetheart, Ady Pearce, and went to work for her father's cabinet company. He then worked 17 years for Triangle Pacific, a manufacturer and distributor of hardwood flooring products and kitchen and bathroom cabinets. He was a regional sales manager for Triangle when he left in 1995 to start his own firm, TCP Cabinets, a manufacturer's representative.

He worked with many local builders, his wife said, and opened distributorships for Armstrong Cabinets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Mr. McGowan enjoyed traveling abroad, cruises, Bermuda vacations, and spending time with his family at their summer home in Avalon. He loved children, his wife said, and they were drawn to him. On the beach, he played with the youngsters instead of socializing with the adults, she said, and his grandchildren were the apple of his eye.

In addition to his wife, Mr. McGowan is survived by daughters Tara Handforth and Megan; two sisters; two brothers; and three grandchildren.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, on the Villanova University campus. Friends may call from 9 a.m. tomorrow at the church and from 7 to 9 p.m. today at McConaghy's Funeral Home, 328 Lancaster Ave., Ardmore. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.