Henry Edward Gowland, III, age 68, a New Orleans, Louisiana native, passed away on Thursday, December 2, 2021. He is survived by his sister, Catherine Gowland Guidroz and brother Michael Edward Gowland (Deidre). He is also survived by nieces Michelle Guidroz Bennett (Reed), Ginga Guidroz, Chanda Gaspard Cervini, Chelsi Gowland and Caila Gowland Mentz (Michael) and several grand nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his father Henry Edward Gowland, Jr. and his mother Hazel Fay Nungesser Gowland. Henry was known to all as “Eddie” or “Croaker” to his friends.

Eddie attended St. James Elementary School and graduated from Brother Martin High School in 1971 in Gentilly, Louisiana. He worked in the bar and restaurant industry in Orleans and Jefferson parishes including Mulates, Mandina’s, Pascal Manales and Bozo’s Restaurants.  In 1995 Eddie, moved to Waveland, Mississippi where he worked at Noble House Restaurant and for the Mississippi Department of Transportation for five years. In true Eddie fashion, over the years he met hundreds of people and made lifelong friends working in bars and restaurants in Mississippi and Louisiana. Eddie always remembered everyone’s names and greeted everyone with a smile, handshake or hug and kiss on the cheek. He always had a story to recount with everyone he met upon seeing them again.

Eddie moved to McKinney, Texas as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, where he worked for the Texas Department of Transportation for ten years. Eddie made so many friends in North Texas even though he only lived there for sixteen years. He spent holidays and birthday celebrations with Hazel Faye, Cathy, Michelle, Ginga and family.

Eddie was an avid football and basketball lover. He spent all nights and weekends watching games on TV and calling his friends to discuss scores and plays.  Although Eddie never married or had children, he had a life full of family and friends and he never met a stranger in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Texas.

The family will plan a burial service at Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a celebration of Eddie’s life in the Spring of 2022.