John Watt Gow III

September 14, 1958–March 29, 2023

IN THE CARE OF

Heaven, Mother Nature, The Universe, God’s Hands, Nirvana

The Place of No Time, Albios, Elysium, Paradise, Tír na nÓg, Zion.

John Watt Gow Ⅲ (Boot), 64, of Clearwater Beach and Dunedin, transitioned over and broke through to a better place on March 29th, 2023 at 11:00pm in Palm Harbor in a comfortable bed, in Sandpiper room 4, with a painting of a sunset on the water behind him. His 3 sons and ex-wife visited him every day in the last days of his physical life. He was born a Virgo in Oak Park, Illinois on September 14, 1958, one of 3 children of John Watt Gow Ⅱ (Jack) and LoVina Gow. He is survived by and lives his future life through his 3 sons, John Watt Gow Ⅳ, Ian Scott Gow, and Collin Emil Gow, and by his 5 grandchildren, John Watt Gow Ⅴ, Jackson Marcello Gow, Sawyer William Gow, August Emerson Gow, and Juliette Lane Gow. Two brothers also survive him, one older brother Doug Gow and one younger brother Rob Gow.

John Ⅲ was always full of ideas and dreams, he had a strong, vital, intense, and fiery energy, a loud voice (he was definitely a talker with the gift of gab), and he had probably the largest of the Gow schnozzes.

Growing up in Park Ridge and then Inverness, Illinois, he enjoyed watching and playing many sports with his neighborhood friends, eating meatloaf and milk and cookies, vacationing with his family, and driving a snowmobile at age 14. Later in life he reminisced about how he and his friends played tackle football on the frozen ground with no pads and how he was able to carry multiple people on his back when they were trying to tackle him. Real rough and tumble gridiron stuff, apparently. When watching sports, he followed Chicago sports teams, especially. He and his high school sweetheart Janet used to sneak off to go see Blackhawks games because their parents didn't like them going into the city. He was classically trained on the piano at the behest of his mother and enjoyed playing many Christmas carols.

Perhaps his first big dream was to be a professional golfer. He played on his high school team at Fremd where he won some long drive contests and he played at Inverness Country Club where his parents were members. He was pretty good, becoming a scratch golfer as a young adult. That dream probably got sidetracked, though, as he would soon have 3 sons with his first wife Janet, and he couldn’t quite cut it to make it to the pros.

He went to Drake University in Iowa for a year where he joined the ATO fraternity and grew to like driving fast cars. He had a Pontiac Firebird, for instance, which he would drive fast, probably to go see Janet at her college. After college, while living in Elgin, Illinois with Janet, he worked hard at a Glidden paint store. He married Janet and they moved to Schaumburg. Living there he became a successful Executive Sales Representative for Glidden and had a large territory in Chicago. This job helped contribute to supporting his first son, John Ⅳ. When Janet became pregnant with second son Ian, they all moved to Arlington Heights, where they lived for a few years. Shortly after their third son Collin was born, John Ⅲ and Janet packed up and headed out west to California. John Ⅲ picked up different jobs in sales, golf, and pursued other ventures.

The pride of his adult life, however, was the raising of said 3 sons with Janet, though him and Janet divorced not long after being in California. He coached his kids in many sports, took them on a million crazy adventures, took them to visit their grandparents back in Illinois, thought up business ideas to change the world (and made his sons go along with them), instilled in his kids alternative ways to approach convention, taught them that visualizing the outcome you want is important for success in sports and life, taught them to look a person in the eye when shaking their hand, and he carted his kids all over southern California. He opted for a red, ’87 Ford Aerostar Van at this time in his life, probably realizing it was the more mature and responsible choice for a vehicle now that he was a full-blown father. Even though it wasn’t a fast vehicle, he called it “The Racer Van”. Yeah, he was still pretending he was a racecar driver in a shitty Aerostar that ended up lasting for over 10 years with over 300,000 miles on it. Though he wasn’t always the easiest dad to deal with, though his impatience and lack of tenderness was tough, though he was pretty hard on his sons psychologically and otherwise, he was always there and they knew he cared about and loved them. He continued to play golf every once in a while. He even built his own driving range (and garden) at a house in Oceanside, California a little later on.

In middle age he enjoyed golf still and drove a fast car still, this time a silver Buick Gran National T-Type that went zero to sixty in 4.9 seconds (fast for back when it was made) and that he would later paint all black. He continued to envision different non-profit start-ups, inventions, and businesses. One of them that stood out was the invention of workout fanatic dolls for kids that he called Biff and Buff, which would help inspire kids to be physically fit. Another involved the giving of superfood, functional food nutrition bars out to the homeless. And yet another was a ranch and training facility for skateboarders he called “The Skatepark of Dreams”. He moved to Tampa and Wesley Chapel, Florida, following his sons who had moved there with their mother, and eventually settled in Clearwater and Dunedin later where he spent the majority of his middle-age and old-age. There was a break from Florida for a year in this period when he followed his sons and their mom back to California. He chose Warner Springs Ranch as his destination, a golf resort in the middle of nowhere in the desert/mountains. It was a special place that had healing hot springs and other really cold pools, which he really enjoyed swimming in. He loved taking his part wolf, part husky, part German shepherd dog, Buster, on walks in the mountains, and he of course played and watched golf there as well. The ranch was technically owned by an Indian Reservation and it was like living on the last frontier. When he was at Clearwater Beach he loved to swim in the Gulf of Mexico.

His real genius showed itself in these stages of life, where in Largo and Clearwater he ascended to be the best nutritional counselor in his area. He got into natural health back in California, which was once the Mecca for natural health, while listening to Gary Null on the radio. At every health food store he worked at in Florida he became the guru. Everybody asked for him and sought out his knowledge, due diligence, expertise, and professionalism in his field. And they all still asked about him for years after he stopped working. He committed to memory what every natural product and ingredient was studied for. He was a great researcher. But he wasn’t just great because he knew all the medical journal studies on natural medicines, he was also personable. John’s son Collin once gave him what John thought was one of the great compliments of his life when Collin said: “I read the book How to Win Friends and Influence People and that book is you in a nutshell”. Collin no doubt found this book on his dad’s bookshelves, sitting amongst other books on self-help and personal development. John Ⅲ really had embodied this book in his personality. He knew all the customers’ names and life stories and he always sought to talk about the other person’s interests first. This is why people really loved him.

In old age he played with and took care of his 5 grandkids mostly, while his health declined. He still managed some golf from time to time while dreaming about going to play the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. He also dabbled in playing the guitar (enjoying blues music) and he continued to wrestle a little bit with and be plagued to some degree by his unfulfilled big plans and dreams, though the burden was becoming lighter for him. He bought many website domains over the years for all of his humanitarian-type business ideas and he did manage to sell one of them.

But what else about the man and his life? He had positive quotes on posters on his walls, he played ocean sounds for his kids to go to sleep by when they were younger, he made shark burritos, rice burritos, zucchini cheese chips, and jelly-filled birthday cakes. He was an avid skier in his younger years and loved to prove his skill doing black diamond mogul runs, he played ping-pong really well, he thought he was Toni Kukoč when playing basketball, he had a skill for remembering numbers, he found solace living out in the sticks in natural and secluded settings, he loved his dogs, his spirit animal was the wolf, he loved his mother LoVina, he drove cars with his knees while reading (which is definitely not advisable), he kind of thought he was an Indian, kind of thought he was a cowboy with his boots, and kind of became a Christian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where he wore a costume to one of their parties that he called “The Spirit of Success” (it was a white robe type outfit with post-it notes attached to it with quotes and Bible verses on them). He hit grounders at his sons at 6am before their school, took them apple picking, was always late to wherever he was going, protested McDonalds once, would often say the motto “dare to be different”, was good at getting deals on things and getting into events for free (he was a cunning schmoozer), he took his kids to see Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan play, he had Moon in Libra, Mars in Taurus, a Life Path #1, a Destiny #6, and he talked of leaving a legacy. For much of his adult life he thought leaving a legacy meant doing more with his creative, big ideas, but towards his older age he started to realize that his legacy was all of the sons and grandkids he had been responsible for bringing into the world. Though he felt he didn’t do enough with his dreams, he was very prolific in that other way, and he lit a fire under his sons to do more with their dreams. Sometimes a legacy is showing people what not to do, sometimes it’s just being who you are, sometimes it is motivating others, and sometimes it’s procreating and taking care of others. Plus, maybe leaving a legacy isn’t super important, yet most people yearn to live on and live forever. It’s part of human nature and part of the human condition. While he struggled to take care of his children perfectly, he nevertheless did take care of them, along with a lot of other people in his life, which is another big part of his legacy—his service to others. He primarily served others, whether ailing customers, or children, or grandchildren, while he struggled to take care of himself. While it was a rough ending for him, he had thousands of times the amount of good and healthy days than he had sick and ailing days, minus some back problems. He is going through a deep life review in the afterlife, which his sons are confident is bringing him understanding, wisdom, peace, and change. Meanwhile, his sons are reviewing their lives and may find their own understanding, wisdom, peace, and change. To facilitate their review, this author finds it appropriate to share a quote, especially since John Ⅲ loved quotes also: “Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these.” ― George Washington Carver. Now that is a legacy worth reading about and this quote was read to him twice in his final days. His family loves him deeply and wishes him a happy journey to a happier hunting ground. No regrets, no shame, no guilt, no need to continue battling this world, nor suffering through it. When you see a wolf, think of him, when you play a round of golf, think of him, when you go to the beach for a swim, think of him, when you say your prayers, talk to him. He is there, he is everywhere. Godspeed and God bless to him and all.

We love you Dad,

Collin Emil Gow

Ian Scott Gow

John Watt Gow Ⅳ

P.S. his sons are in gratitude to and would like to thank their mother, Janet Guess, for her support through the process of his death and for assisting with his funeral arrangements, which are being handled by Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Clearwater, Florida. His sons are still deciding on whether or not to do a private or public service for him.