John O Mcgovern

John O. McGovern, Jr., 80, died on May 4 after a very brief illness, surrounded by family and very much at peace. A lifelong resident of Pottstown, Jack – as he was known – was many things… son, brother, uncle, godfather, veteran, and volunteer among the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) community for nearly 60 years. Jack was a living example of the saying, "Still waters run deep." He was quiet and kind, deeply devoted to his family and his faith.

Jack was born on March 30, 1942, the first of three children for J. Owen and Elizabeth (Leonard) McGovern. His earliest days were spent on Spruce Street, which is where he welcomed younger sister Kathryn (McGovern) Doyle and brother Michael. The McGoverns later moved to North Evans Street, where Jack lived until he passed. Friends could always count on Jack's minivan to be parked in the very same place, and that his lawn would be mowed… by him, and in later years, by very kind neighbors who looked out for him. Jack is predeceased by his parents and brother, but his legacy lives on in his sister, sister-in-law Nancy (Knoblow) McGovern, his many cousins, two nieces, four nephews and 11 grand-nieces and nephews.

A 1960 graduate of St. Pius X High School, Jack immediately began working for the F. W. Woolworth Company and enrolled in their management training program. He then answered his country's call to duty and served on active duty with the U.S. Army for many years. During the war in Vietnam, Jack was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Though his role was to oversee the distribution of supplies to deploying soldiers, he'd later describe his experience as, "… the guy who'd help them make their last calls home to say good-bye, before shipping out." In Jack's last conversations with family, he described those days as some of his toughest, but ones he looked back on with honor.

Jack's adult life meant very busy days and weekends. First, as a 40-year employee of Superior Tube Company in Collegeville, where he was a part of the inside sales team until his retirement in October 2003. And second, in service to the Boy Scouts – a community in which he'd find friendship and comradery in his younger years, and a chance to give back and mentor in his later ones. As an adult Scouter, Jack joined the Chester County BSA Council in 1978. He was Head Scoutmaster of Cedarville Troop 95 for more than two decades, and held numerous other leadership roles, among them: Camping Chairman and later Assistant District Commissioner for the Horseshoe Trail District; Provisional Scoutmaster for the Chester County Council and the Horseshoe Scout Reservation; and Chairman of the Eagle Scout Board of Review. He was awarded the District Award of Merit, the District Committee Key Award and the Distinguished Silver Beaver Award. In 2010, Jack was honored with the James H. Gawthrop Jr. Memorial Allouchsit Allogagan Award for, "unselfish service and devotion to Scouting." But more than any accolades, Jack was most proud of the many young men he saw rise to the rank of Eagle Scout during his leadership in the organization.

Jack's family will welcome friends and neighbors at his life-long church, St. Aloysius Catholic Parish at the corner of Beech and Hanover in Pottstown, on Friday, May 20 at 9:30 a.m., and celebrate his life during a Mass of Christian burial at 10:30 a.m. It was Jack's wish that any donations in his memory be made to St. Aloysius, a community he loved and a sacred place in which he found peace each Sunday morning.

Warker~Troutman Funeral Home Inc is honored to serve the McGovern family.