McGowan, Alicen Jean of Highland Park, IL, formerly of Dedham, passed away peacefully on August 10, 2023 after a courageous battle with Cancer.
Alicen was the beloved wife for 34 years of Gerald Nathan Unger, the daughter of the late Charles and Irene McGowan of Dedham, and the devoted mother of Sasha Lee Gerritson and Arlen Jeffrey Gerritson. Alicen was the cherished grandmother of Nathan and Josh Jarvis, Jack, Elle, Caroline and Ivy Gerritson. Alicen was also the loving sister to Craig McGowan and the late Charles M. “Chuck” McGowan and the sister-in-law to Christine and Leslie McGowan, and mother-in-law to Megan Gerritson and Eugene Jarvis.
Alicen was born February 7, 1948 and was raised in Dedham, MA. She attended and graduated from Ursuline Academy and went on to receive an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, her master’s degree in education from Rutgers University, and then went on to earn her PhD in public administration and ethics. She was well-known nationally for her work as a counselor with children dealing with trauma and people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Alicen was the author of two books We Hid Under the Table (2020) and We Survived in Spite of the System (2021) both focusing on childhood and teen trauma.
Alicen had a presence about her and could always light up a room. A world traveler, she lived in Japan where she was a model in the late seventies, and Zambia where her first husband Stephen Gerritson worked as a foreign service officer for the state department.
Over her amazing life Alicen touched many lives. Before becoming a licensed professional mental health counselor, Alicen made headlines by bringing her infant child to work with her, she was the vice president of two powerful public relations agencies. Constantly giving of herself she raised over a million dollars for the Leukemia Society of America. Her professional accomplishments included developing a GED program for inmates at the Norfolk County House of Corrections in Dedham, working with marginalized and mentally disabled adults to develop a dairy farm where they could earn a living and be self-sufficient in Templeton, MA, working with the Seminole to highlight Native cultural identity to the public as the executive director for the Florida History Center and Museum, teaching forensic psychology at University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and served as the first woman Deputy Commissioner of Commerce for the state of Massachusetts under then Governor Michael Dukakis. It was in this role where she helped to create the “Spirit of Massachusetts” advertising campaign. One of her proudest accomplishments though was in the eighties, when Alicen was one of three Americans recruited by the Southern Democratic Labor Party in Northern Ireland to teach the peace process to negotiators between the IRA and the British Government. She fondly recalled developing a friendship with the late John Hume who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
With the heart of a Celtic Warrior and the maternal instincts of a mountain lion, she loved her husband, children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews very much. Though she has left this world her spirit burns bright in all who knew and loved her, she will be greatly missed by many.
Visitation at the George F. Doherty & Sons Wilson-Cannon Funeral Home, 456 High St. Dedham on Wednesday, August 16, from 4-7pm. Funeral from the funeral home on Thursday, August 17, at 9:30am followed by a funeral Mass in St. Mary Church, Dedham at 10:30am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Interment following the funeral Mass in Massachusetts National Military Cemetery, Bourne, MA at 1:30pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Alicen Jean McGowan to the Home for Little Wanderers, 10 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135 (thehome.org/index.php/r).