To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Arkansas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arkansas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 2/20/22 • Approved: 3/2/22 • Last Updated: 3/5/22 • R1421839-G0-S3
US Navy
World War II
May 28, 1926 - March 14, 2019
*Obituary
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sunday, March 17, 2019
BELLA VISTA — W. John Rowe, aged 92, passed away on March 14, 2019, at his home in Bella Vista, where he was a resident for 34 years.
He moved from Arlington Heights, Ill., to Bella Vista in March of 1985. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather and was highly regarded by his entire family and relatives.
John was born on May 28, 1926, in Meridean, Wis., to Walter J. Rowe and Geneva Peterson Rowe, both deceased. His older sister, Frances, and younger brother, Richard, are also deceased.
John is survived by his wife, Ruth, of Bela Vista; daughter, Cathy Casey (Joe) of Bixby, Okla.; son, Thomas Rowe (Jan) of Deerfield, Ill.; his sister, Geraldine Barthholf (James) of Monroe, Wis.; grandchildren, Deborah Stanhope of Bixby, Okla., Bradley Kmita of Tulsa, Okla., Grant Rowe of Coppell, Texas; Clark Rowe of Irving, Texas; and eight great-grandchildren.
On Dec. 29, 1949, he married Ruth Ann Neuman of Elroy, Wis. They were blessed with two children, Cathy and Thomas, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
John graduated from Menomonie High School in 1944 and entered the U.S. Navy in June of that year. As part of his several naval assignments, he served on the U.S.S. Crochet, APA 148, for a year and a half in the South Pacific until the end of World War II.
In the fall of 1946, he entered the University of Wisconsin-Stout, graduating in 1950 with a teaching degree. In later years, he earned advanced degrees from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill.
He spent his career in education — as did his wife, Ruth — as a math teacher, school administrator and retired as principal of Arlington High School in Arlington Heights, Ill., in 1984.
Memorial services will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2019, at 11 a.m. the Bella Vista Community Church where he was an active member for more than 30 years. Dr. Anna Teel, his pastor, will be officiating.
Should friends desire, contributions may be sent to the Community Church in Bella Vista, Ark., (479) 855-1126, (www.bvcc.net) or to the Cardinal Fund associated with District 214 Education Foundation (847) 718-7699. www.214foundation.org/cardinalfund.
Arrangments by Epting Funeral Home Bella Vista. Condolences: www.eptingfuneralhome.webs.com.
Contributed on 2/20/22 by wfields55
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 1421839