Anne Weston McGowan, of Normal, breathed her last at 8:55 a.m. Saturday, March 7, 2015.  

She was born on August 12, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Harold and Frances Weston. She attended Middlebury College as a young woman in 1955 but graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a BA in English Literature in 1976.

She married James Denise McGowan on July 3, 1958, at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Jim, a former professor at IWU, predeceased her by one year to the day. They are survived by their three children, Andrew John (Laura) McGowan, Topeka, KS; Caitlin (Anthony) Visser, Las Vegas, NV; and Michael James McGowan, Durham, NC, and three grandsons, Benjamin, Joseph, and Eric Visser, Las Vegas, NV.

Anne was a modern dancer as a young woman. She taught Latin at local high schools for several years, but she is known primarily as an environmentalist. She was a volunteer at Operation Recycle’s first recycle drive in 1971 and later served on its board for many years. She was the original director of the Ecology Action Center, an environmental education center that began in 1994.

Memorials may be made to the Ecology Action Center.

A celebration of her life will be held at a later date.