Irene Claire (Huerkamp) McGowan passed away October 21, 2023 in Midland, Texas at the age of 91.

Irene was born September 29, 1932 in Murray County, Minnesota to Joseph and Rose (Oberbrockling) Huerkamp. She was raised on the family farm just outside of Iona, Minnesota. She graduated from St. Columba High School in Iona in 1950.

She married James Edward McGowan in Rochester, Minnesota on April 19, 1954. Jim and Irene went where the Army took them for the next twenty years. Their stops included Frankfurt and Bad Kreuznach, Germany, Fort Lewis in Washington state, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and multiple duty stations at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX. Jim retired from the Army in 1974 at Fort Bliss, and they made their home in El Paso until Jim's death in 2003.

Irene stayed at home and raised their children while Jim was in the Army. She rejoined the work force in 1972, spending more than 20 years in the Jewelry Dept. at the old K-mart store on Dyer St. in northeast El Paso. Irene was a devout Catholic and attended and volunteered at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Northeast El Paso.

Irene loved bowling, and spent Friday mornings for many years bowling with her teammates on the Coors Cans at Bowlero Lanes in Northeast El Paso. She also loved playing pinochle and developed a fondness for Rhine wine when she was in Germany.

But mostly, Irene was a devoted mother to her children, Jodeen (Greg) Alseth, James Jr. (Suzy Mahaklan), Robert (Dawn Colker), and Charles (Rikki Sutherland), all of whom survive her. She also helped raise several of her grandchildren, and was a good neighbor to those who lived in the neighborhood of her home on Kirwood St. She was the grandmother of eight direct and several step-grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and several step-great-grandchildren.

Irene spent the last several years of her life at the Helen Greathouse Manor in Midland, TX.

She is survived by one sister, Marcella Chandler of Plano, Texas. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and twelve siblings (Alvin, Sister Mary Josette [Sisters of St. Francis, Rochester, MN], Marie Muck, Mathias (Mutzy), Frances [Hockey] Pommier, Bernadine Steffes, Elizabeth [Betty] Lehmann, Joseph [died in infancy], Joseph [Jody], Leonard [Lenny], Rosella [Rosie] Manderscheid, and Alvina Marlene Holloway.

Interment at Fort Bliss National Cemetery, El Paso, TX, alongside her loving husband, Jim.