Baton Rouge, LA - Lucy Schow McGough Bowers, a respected legal scholar, devoted educator, civil rights advocate, and loving mother, passed away peacefully on May 25, 2025, at St James Place, Baton Rouge, at age 84.

Her life will be celebrated Monday, June 2nd at St. James Episcopal Church, starting with family visitation from 11:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., followed by a service beginning at 1 p.m.

Born originally in Vincennes, Indiana, but raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Lucy dedicated her life to the pursuit of knowledge while breaking barriers for women in legal academia and advocating for the needs of children and other vulnerable groups navigating the U.S. legal system.

She attended Agnes Scott College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors in English and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Agnes Scott College newspaper. After four years working as a social worker in Atlanta, she went on to earn her J.D. from Emory with Distinction and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

After a brief stint practicing law in Atlanta, Lucy became the first tenured female professor at Emory University School of Law and the school's first female chaired professor over the course of her 13-year career there. Later, she would be named a member of the Emory Law 100; one of the 100 most distinguished alumni of the Emory Law School since its founding.

She broke similar barriers during her nearly three decades of teaching at Louisiana State University's Paul M. Herbert Law Center, where she served as the school's first female chaired professor as the Vinson & Elkins professor of law. Her areas of expertise included Criminal Justice, Family Law, Trusts and Estates, Juvenile Law and Mediation. In 2012, Lucy became the dean and president of the Appalachian School of Law, where she continued to mentor future legal professionals. Upon retiring from the Appalachian School of Law and returning to Baton Rouge, Lucy returned to work at the LSU Law Center, including work on the LSU Law Parole Assistance and Re-entry Clinic.

Lucy's scholarship had an impact on legal research and court cases around the country. She wrote the first Louisiana Children's Code Handbook (with Kerry Triche), a first-of-its-kind, pro-children effort that unified and reconciled the state's various laws regarding the handling of juveniles in the Louisiana legal system. Her book, Child Witnesses: Fragile Voices in the American Legal System, combined developmental psychology with legal analysis: it is widely regarded as a foundational work on child witness psychology and legal procedure. To celebrate her work, The Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers established the Lucy McGough Juvenile Justice Award, which it gives each year to recognize outstanding work in the area.

Lucy was preceded in death by her husband, James (Jim) Bowers, who was also a law professor at LSU and the Appalachian School of Law. She is survived by her children, Allison, Ben, Fairchild, Jake, Joe, Leah, and Lisa, and her eight grandchildren: Bianca, Celine, Cole, Cosmo, Elle, Lucy, Marina, and Tyler.

She will be deeply missed by her family, colleagues, students, and friends.