Francis Innes Gowen was born Oct. 15, 1926, in Philadelphia to Sally Henry and James E. Gowen 1917.

He attended Chestnut Hill Academy and St. Paul’s School before enlisting in the Marines. At Princeton he was a politics major, belonged to the Right Wing Club, 21 Club, and Ivy. He roomed with Rufus Finch, Pete Stroh, and Joe Werner.

His father was president and chairman of the Girard Bank, and his grandfather and namesake, Francis Innes Gowen, had been general counsel and vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

In the 1950s, Francis was called up again to serve for a year in Korea. In 1955 he and Olive Massie were married. After his military service, he worked for the advertising firm of Lewis & Gilman; he left to become director of personnel at the Western Savings Fund Society, where he remained for nearly three decades. In 1982 he went to Christie’s auction house as an appraiser, and in 1990 he retired.

Francis died Dec. 28, 2016, in Bryn Mawr, Pa. He is survived by his children, Elizabeth Kuensell, Sally Francis, and James; seven grandchildren; son-in-law Scott Kuensell ’76; and cousin Craig Coleman ’86. His wife, Olive, and cousin Francis Coleman ’45 predeceased him.

Class Year: 
Undergraduate Class of 1951