MARY ELLEN MCGOWAN

Mary Ellen Ballard (Mamaw) McGowan went to be with the Lord Tuesday, November 29, 2011 after a lengthy illness. She was 69. Funeral services for Mrs. McGowan will be held Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 3:00 PM at the Chapel of Evans-Skipper Funeral Home. Interment will be held in Corinth Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery in Iron City, GA with Rev. Jimmy Walden officiating. Visitation will be held Thursday, December 1, 2011 from 2:00-3:00 PM at Evans-Skipper Funeral Home. You may sign the guest book and share your thoughts with the family by visiting our website at www.evansskipperfh.com. Mamaw was born April 1, 1942 in Decatur County, GA to the late Bob Ballard and Elva Maude Ard. She attended high school at Sarasota High School where she was a member of the high school circus. She graduated from Seminole High School. She moved to the Dothan/Slocomb area in 1972. Mamaw loved gardening, crocheting and spending time with her family. She enriched the lives of her family, friends and even strangers. She is survived by Bobby Messer, her significant other of eighteen years, and (and, according to her, her "Knight in Shining Armor"); daughters, Mary LeAnne Jinks and Cynthia Michele Clay of Dothan, AL; a son, Tony Wayne McGowan, Dothan, AL., five grandchildren, Clayton Kelly, Colby Knight, Jera Mason, Jessica Clay, Hunter Scott; five great grandchildren, Trey Knight, LaTrail (BoBo) Davis, David "Come back here" McWhorter, Rusty Shane McWhorter, Jr., Hayden Lee White, as well the children brought to brighten her life by Mr. Messer, Deborah Beech, Glenda Spann, Missy Haden and Bobby Messer, Jr.; She is also survived by her special poodle “Fancy”. She was preceded in death by her husband, Chester Wayne Gantt; her parents, Bob Ballard and Elva Maude Ard; very special grandmother, Alice "Bobo" Glisson; her brother, James Glisson Smith, and a beloved shih-tzu “Tucker”. Evans-Skipper Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements