Francis Gowen, official of a bank

Francis Innes Gowen, 90, personnel director of the Western Savings Fund Society of Philadelphia for nearly three decades and an antiques lover, died Wednesday, Dec. 28, of dementia at Beaumont at Bryn Mawr.

"He had endured a long illness with great patience and a consistently cheerful disposition," his family said in a remembrance.

Mr. Gowen was a descendant of a prominent Philadelphia family.

Francis Innes Gowen, Mr. Gowen's grandfather, was born in Germantown in 1855. He was appointed general counsel and then vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and he helped develop the family estate in Mount Airy into a residential neighborhood.

Mr. Gowen's father, James E. Gowen, was president of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society in the 1940s.

Gowen Avenue bears the family's name. It extends from Bryan Street to Germantown Avenue in Northwest Philadelphia.

Known to friends as "Fig," Mr. Gowen was born in Chestnut Hill. His mother was Sally Henry.

He attended Chestnut Hill Academy and St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., before enlisting in the Marine Corps at age 18. He served in the Pacific Theater and was honorably discharged in August 1946.

He completed his high school education at Temple University High School in 1947, and graduated in 1951 from Princeton University.

During the beginning of Cold War tensions in the 1950s, Mr. Gowen was called up by the military to serve in the intelligence field in Korea. "He was very quiet about that," said his daughter, Sally G. Francis. He would only reveal that his duties consisted of "counting tanks while developing a dislike of rice," she said. "He never touched rice again."

After his military service, Mr. Gowen was employed by the Philadelphia advertising firm of Lewis & Gilman as a copywriter. While there, he honed his natural talent for verbal communication and the bon mot, or witticism.

In 1955, he married Olive Massie of Palm Beach, Fla. The couple lived in Bryn Mawr.

Several years later, Mr. Gowen became director of personnel at Western Savings Fund Society. When the bank merged with PSFS in 1982, Mr. Gowen left for a job as an appraiser with Christie's auction house, traveling between Philadelphia and New York.

He and his wife, who shared an appreciation of art and antiques, attended many exhibitions and read extensively on early American antiques. "They loved flea marketing," Francis said.

Mr. Gowen made friends easily and stayed in touch with his childhood buddies. While in college, he became known for spoofing his friends and family in clever, hand-drawn cartoons.

He exhibited civic commitment and leadership by serving for 29 years as board president of the HMS School for Children With Cerebral Palsy in University City. Helping the school was a Gowen family tradition, Francis said.

Mr. Gowen's wife died in 2012. Besides his daughter, he is survived by a son, James E; a daughter, Elizabeth Kuensell; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 6, at the Church of the Redeemer, 230 Pennswood Rd., Bryn Mawr. Interment is private.

bcook@phillynews.com

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