ALMA C. ROWE

Alma C. Rowe, n‚e Alma Norma Craig

Successful business woman returns home to Bedford for her final resting place.

Alma C. Rowe, n‚e Alma Norma Craig, died Friday, October 22, 2010 in Falls Church, VA, after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

The daughter of the late Carroll Robert (Ike) and Lila Ester (Mayhew) Craig, she was born March 26, 1926 in Bedford, VA and graduated from Bedford High School in 1944. She married Michael Bernard Lynch and moved to Arlington, VA in 1945, where she raised her six children while working as a demolition firm office manager.

In 1967, she joined with two partners to found ABC Distributors, Inc. in Arlington, VA, a building supply store offering salvaged and new building materials. In 1989, Alma purchased her partners shares and became the sole owner of ABC up until her death.

Never forgetting her roots, Alma frequently returned to Bedford with her children, who spent many summers there with their grandparents. Alma was the proprietor of the Longwood Inn and enjoyed the holidays there for many years, before selling it in 2002. She also kept a residence at Smith Mountain Lake and owned several other properties throughout the Bedford area, as well as Northern Virginia.

During her life, Alma learned to ride horses, fly airplanes, and enjoyed collecting antique automobiles.

She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Alton (Ollie) and Sidney (Bob) Craig, her first husband, Michael Bernard Lynch and her youngest son, Robert Crawford Rowe.

She is survived by her four daughters, Katherine Lynch Mitchell of Bedford, Marina Lynch O'Neil of Manakin Sabot, VA, Michelle Lynch Bouma of Alexandria, VA, and Susan Lynch Falkenstern of Falls Church, VA, and one son, Bernard Craig Lynch of Friendship, MD. She is also survived by her five grandchildren, Robert Mitchell Jr., Melissa and Maggie O'Neil, and Julia and Daniel Falkenstern.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Alzheimer's Family Day Center, 2812 Old Lee Highway, Suite 210, Fairfax, VA 22301 or you may donate on line at www.alzheimersfdc.org

Funeral Services will be held at the Tharp Funeral Chapel, Bedford, on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 11:30 A.M. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery. To send condolences online please visit www.tharpfuneralhome.com Arrangements by Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Bedford, 586-3443.