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Date Deceased: 2011
Age at Death: 59
Cause of Death: Heart Attack
Classmate City: Frederick
Classmate State: MD
Classmate Country: USA
Survived By:
submitted by M. Antoinette Litchfield (Harris)
From his Memorial Service:
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Thomas Arthur Gowling, III
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Born in New York, New York on Aug. 17, 1952
Departed on Sep. 5, 2011 and resided in Potomac, MD.
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Memorial Service:
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Sep. 9, 2011
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Thomas Arthur Gowling, III (aka TAG), age 59, of Potomac MD, died suddenly 9/5/11 at his vacation home at Deep Creek Lake of natural causes. Tom was born 8/17/52 in New York City and raised by his adoptive parents Francis Patricia Gowling and Thomas Arthur Gowling, Jr. in Washington DC. Tom was an only child and moved with his parents to Potomac, Maryland at the age of 15.
Tom graduated from Winston Churchill High School in the class of '70. Tom's good-natured attitude and his blue '67 Nova made him popular with just about everyone and he had many friends. After graduation, he continued his education at Montgomery College.
Tom served proudly as a volunteer fireman for many years. He volunteered at several of the local fire stations including the Potomac, Cabin John, Bethesda Chevy Chase, and Rockville VFD's. His service in the community earned him many more lifelong friends.
Always an entrepreneur, Tom's passion for cleaning and service led him to start Normandy Carpet Care in 1974. He successfully grew the company from a man and a single machine to one of the premier carpet service companies in the Washington area. Its' client list is a who's who of discerning Washingtonians along with landmark museums, Government buildings, hotels, country clubs, office buildings and other institutions'. Its employees and management team are highly sought after for their expertise and care for the finest carpets and the most delicate furnishings.
Tom is survived by a large and loving family including his adoring wife of over 10 years, Carol Gowling, his 3 children, Megan Gowling, Katelyn Gowling, Ryan Gowling, and his 2 stepdaughters, Brittany Karakostas, and Kristina Karakostas, in their Potomac home. Tom loved animals and also leaves behind their 4 dogs.
In lieu of Flowers, the family requests donations be made to one or more of the following:
1. The Potomac Presbyterian Church, 10301 River Road, Potomac, MD 20854
2. National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, P.O. Drawer 498, Emmitsburg, PA 21727
3. National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1100 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20005
4. American Diabetes Association, 1701 N. Beauregard St, Alexandria, VA 22311
Family, Friends, and Fun.
Nobody did it better than Tom
We all miss him…
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Mary La Spada
I am sorry that more comments aren't posted about Tom. He was one of the most genuine people I ever met. I remember him fondly from high school and ran into him several times over the years and he was just as nice as he was in the day. The fact that he donated so much of his time to the VFD over the course of his lifetime speaks to his character. He was a loving son and father. May he rest in peace.
Betty Spicer (Langager)
Tom was in one of my English classes, he was always friendly. Such a nice person. I loved his smile. I always knew he was going to do well in life, just by the way he treated others. May you rest in peace. God has another Angel.
Clay Blair
I have not looked at the Churchill web site in a long time. I was shocked to heat of Tom's death. He and I spent much of the last two years at Churchill together. I have fond memories of him and the time we sent together. The Blue Chevy Nova was our main mode of transportation! I was in the car when on a snowy day we could not stop out in front of the school and ran into the side of a nice Corvette coming out of the school driveway. Poor Corvette!
We spent a lot of time away from school when we should have been in class. We were together brought into the vice principles office around Thanksgiving of our senior year and asked about the notes from our parents for all the days sick or late. I think we wrote them all and neither of our parents knew about them. We got enough detention to last the rest of the year. Then at the end of the year just before graduation we were called in again for skipping all the detention! Were given a sentence of going to the printer and having a letter of resignation printed for the vice principle. That was it! We “graduated”!!
I remember one day in our senior year when we were lab partners in Mr. Pearlmutter’s Chemistry class we had decided we would each skip every other day on opposite days. Tom was in class doing an experiment without me and when it came time to smell the mixture by waving his hand over the glass jar, he instead stuck his nose in and took a big whiff. Next thing was Tom on the floor and the school calling for an ambulance! He was OK and never did that again!
Tom and I joined the Cabin John Fire Department together. I think we were 16 or 17. We rode around on the back of the fire trucks going to fires and accidents. We had one building fire (the VFW near Great Falls Park) and we were the first truck there. We were woken up in the middle of the night by the alarm in the fire station. We came out of the fire station (a little house in Potomac village right on River Road). We went through the intersection of River Road and Falls Road on the back of the truck and I lost my helmet going around the corner. After fighting the fire a fire inspector brought my flattened helmet to me at the VFW. I had taken Tom’s helmet from him because I went into the house with a hose and he was working the truck outside. The fire was out, the drunk who started it was in trouble (he knew everyone at the fire department and wanted to give us some excitement if I remember the story right).
After hight school, I joined the Naval Air Reserves and left the Potomac life more or less behind. A lot of people were getting drafted and getting sent to Viet Nam. I thought this was a better way.
Clay (Skip) Blair