The Reverend Doctor Henry Duncan Gower, Jr, stepped into eternity on Tuesday, the 23rd of July, 2019.  He had been a resident of the Missouri Veterans Home of Warrensburg, Missouri, since January 2013.

Dr. Gower was the son of Henry (Hank) D. Gower and Alice Marie (Beck) Gower.  He was born on August 15, 1946, and was the eldest of three children of a career officer in the United States Air Force and an adventurists teacher.  He often expressed great gratitude for having been a military dependent and travelling over the world with his mother and father.  In their travels (and others as an adult), he learned to speak several languages in varying degrees of fluency.  Some of those languages included German, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, Tagalog, Thai, and Mandarin Chinese.  Over his life he developed a deep appreciation and understanding of cultures around the world.  When his life was in it's final days he enjoyed talking tales about his many adventures and his experiences with people of many social standings that he encountered during his travels in and through over seventy countries around the globe.

Dr. Gower was a man of many diverse interests and talents.  He served in the United States Air Force during both the Cold War and the Vietnam Era.  A lifelong musician, he enjoyed his musical life as an instrumentalist; a director and arranger for bands, orchestras, and choral ensembles; a studio musician with experience in radio, television and the recording industry; and a composer of music for string orchestra, small wind ensembles, and brass bands.  He also published a book on the history, technical development, and musical uses of the baritone horn and the euphonium that has been used/referred to by several college and university music departments.

As an educator, Dr. Gower always expressed the pleasure he received as he taught pupils from kindergartners through doctoral students.  He taught in the Madison R-3 and Holden C-3 public schools of Missouri.  He was especially pleased to share experiences as an instructor and/or administrator in higher education.  In addition to Missouri public schools, he served various colleges and universities to include State Fair Community College, University of Central Missouri, University of Missouri-Columbia, Auburn University, and the University of Southern California.  He was a contributor to the Missouri Guide for Teaching Music in the Elementary Schools of Missouri.  Dr. Gower was also elected to two terms as the President of the Missouri Association of Departments and Schools of Music.

Dr. Gower was an Ordained Minister of the Word and Sacrament (Teaching Elder, Honorably Retired) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and served congregations in Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa: Eminence Presbyterian Church, Eminence, KY; The Presbyterian Center, Louisville, KY; Mountainburg Presbyterian Church, Mountainburg, Arkansas; Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, George, Iowa; the Missouri Congregation of Blairstown Presbyterian Church, Blairstown, Missouri; Jacoby Chapel; Warrensburg, Missouri; and the First Presbyterian Church of Holden.  At various times, he also worked with Church Missionaries in Thailand, Kenya, and the Philippines.  In his role as Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Care at Western Missouri Medical Center, Dr. Gower was the author of over thirty articles and curriculum materials related to and regarding Pastoral Ethics, ethical and religious/spiritual diversity in medical care, and participated in a number of activities in coordination with Havard School of Medicine concerning body/mind/spirit health and healing.

As an active member of any community in which he lived, Dr. Gower was at various times the president of an area arts council; the co-founder and musical director of a community choir; a licensed legislative lobby for the arts; a member of the successful of the successful committee to have the United States Postal Service to adopt a stamp in commemoration of an American composer/publisher; a member of a community brass band, two community concert bands, three community orchestras; and he was a charter member of a community choir.  In his youth, he attained the Boy Scouts' rank of Eagle and the rank of a painted warrior in The Tribe of Mic-O-Say (an honor fraternity related to the Boy Scouts); in his adulthood, he served as a summer camp counselor as well an Assistant Scout Master.

The Reverend Dr. Henry Gower was educated in the public schools of Windsor, Pleasant Hill, and Independence, Missouri.  His higher education included three degrees from University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg (a Bachelor of Music Education, K-12, vocal and instrumental; a Master of Arts, Music; and an Educational Specialist degree in higher education administration and teaching).  He earned a Master of Divinity degree Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY; a Doctor of Theology Ecole Superior Robert de Sorbon, Nancy, France; and his Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies from Covington Theological Seminary in Kentucky.  Dr. Gower, as continuing education, studies curriculum and instruction in higher education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and became a certified FEMA Crisis Middle Manager, Crisis Mediator, and counselor.

Dr. Gower lived a very full, interesting, and often challenging life.  He was a voracious reader in many and extremely varied genres.  Practicing his very deep faith in Christ Jesus, he thoroughly enjoyed sharing his life with his family, much loved friends, and associates around the globe.  He had an insatiable thirst to meet new people and be engaged by their thoughts and lives.  It was his passion to engage people in deep and thoughtful conversation.  In many ways, Dr. Gower had a tendency to be a "a free spirit" throughout his whole life. The Reverend Dr. Henry Duncan Gower, Jr., is survived by his son, Christopher Aaron Gower of rural Kingsville (and wife, Meagan); a granddaughter, Chloe Noelle Gower McDaniel of Fort Smith and Kansas City; a brother, Phillip Beck Gower (and wife Melissa) of Warrensburg; and his sister, Kolyn Nancy Cochran of Independence, Missouri