Lydia Rowen

Lydia Katherine Rowen
Our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and friend, Lydia Katherine Rowen, 96 of Melba, Idaho passed away peacefully in a Meridian, Idaho care center March 12, 2014, with family sitting beside her. She died just one day before the 24th anniversary of her husband, Daryl Rowen's death. They are now joyfully reunited.
Lydia was born on April 1, 1917 in Glendale Valley, at the homestead of her parents Ernest Eberhard Sr and Rosa Katherina (Gebert) Eberhard. She was the fourth of six children and the beloved only daughter.
Lydia attended Glendale Grade School and graduated from Melba High School in 1936. She was active in plays, softball, track and loved playing the family piano and organ and singing with family and neighbors. Her mother sold many eggs so she could take piano lessons. She especially loved classical musical at a very young age.
Lydia walked everywhere she went and reminisced often of walking to Melba and back home with her close friends and walking to the Snake River with her brothers to swim out to the big rock close to what is now the Celebration Park. She later attended college at Logan, Utah with her brother Fred but had to return home when she had an appendectomy. She graduated later from Beauty School at Nampa, Idaho.
She met a handsome, dark, curly-haired young man at a dance in the Glendale School basement. Times were hard then during the Depression but they loved each other and so they eloped. She then became Mrs. Daryl Rowen. They married in Boise, Idaho and later sealed for time and eternity in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.
In 1938, their first child, Myrna Jean Rowen was born on Christmas Eve Day, then on April 27, 1940 Marilyn came along followed by a son Ronald Dean Rowen November 1, 1943 and then to make the family complete, Trudy Katherine was born January 5, 1946. Lydia was a caring, wonderful mother up until her very last days.
Lydia had many creative talents that she worked to develop over the years, and many lives were blessed by the life she made with her hands. Many neighbors, friends and family members came to get their hair done in her home until she opened up a shop in Melba, 'Lydia's Cut and Curl', across the street from the Melba Elementary School. She used her artistic talent in tinting photographs, decorating her home, sewing, gardening, and cooking wonderful meals for family and anyone who graced her home. Her homemade cabbage dressing was so delicious; it is still sought for by the grandchildren. She made beautiful dresses and suits with her sewing talent. She loved beautiful things and she always found a way to bring more beauty into her life with her own hands. Lydia also became an avid fisherman and she and Daryl spent many joyful hours at beautiful places in Idaho camping and fishing together.
Lydia always worked hard on the farm with Daryl and their children. They built a beautiful life from scratch. Together they encouraged their children to love music and participated in the community to support the Melba High School Band and Marching competitions and supported them in taking music lessons on their choice of instruments. She leaves behind a great legacy of music. Her grandchildren are amazingly gifted with the ability to sing and play instruments and performed for her and Daryl to the very end, performing on special holidays for her and friends at Diamond View Assisted Living.
Throughout her life, Lydia also served in many positions in the church, always accepting any call that came. Lydia and Daryl served a mission in Fresno, California for six months for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was a true highlight of their life. Lydia also taught seminary in Glenn's Ferry, Idaho. She had a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and demonstrated her love of the Savior through her service to family, church and community. She was a true disciple of Christ.
After Daryl passed away in 1990, Lydia lived independently near and with family. She spent time living with each of her three daughters, and when it became necessary, she moved to Diamond View Assisted Living, where she spent many years making new friends and enjoying visits from her family who love and cherish her.
Lydia took exceptional care of herself throughout her life, but had several falls in her later years. Her family is so grateful that she is now free of the limitations of her walker and her health and that she has been reunited with her beloved Daryl. She is probably listening to the heavenly choirs and beautiful music created there.
Lydia loved her family so much and today we can finally give her a tally of the posterity she loved to talk about. She has four children, twenty-six grandchildren, and 108 great-grandchildren. She wished to live until she had one great-great-grandchild and at age 96 she has 18 great-great-grandchildren and 3 more on the way. This is not the final tally...the number continues to grow. She has left behind so much to be proud of.
What a blessed reunion it will be when we meet together with our Mom and Dad, our Grandparents, our friends...Daryl and Lydia. You are an unforgettably important part of our lives and your legacy of love, goodness, kindness and beauty will live on and on. We will miss you, but we are so thankful that you are back together and we know we will see you again.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, March 22 at the Melba LDS Chapel, 112 Randolph Ave in Melba. A viewing will be held at the church from 10 to 10:45 prior to the services. Arrangements are under the direction of Zeyer Funeral Chapel. Nampa. 467-7300