Dr. Stephen William Rowe M.D.

Dr. Stephen William Rowe, M.D., beloved husband of Katherine Glover Rowe, died Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008, in Gadsden, at the age of 79.

Born in Elba, Ala., Dr. Rowe was a lifelong resident of Gadsden. Dedicating his life at an early age to the service of others, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He was an alumnus of Sewanee Military Academy. Dr. Rowe received his baccalaureate and master's degrees in science from the University of Alabama, where he was a member and an officer in Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine.

After Dr. Rowe completed medical school, he served a rotating internship at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Norfolk, Va., and trained and earned his wings as a flight surgeon from the Naval School of Aviation Medicine in Pensacola, Fla. He served two years as flight surgeon and medical officer on an aircraft carrier in California and the Western Pacific Theater. He retired as a Commander, Medical Corps, United States Naval Reserve, with 28 years of service.

Dr. Rowe practiced family medicine in Gadsden for 15 years, later serving as medical director, Southern Republic Steel Corporation, in occupational medicine. He was then vice-president for medical affairs at Gadsden Regional Medical Center for 12 years until retiring in 1994.

Involved in insurance medicine as medical director of Life Insurance Company of Alabama since 1971, he also served as an aviation medical examiner and was a principal in the founding, construction and management of three nursing homes in the Gadsden area.

He was college physician at Jacksonville State University for four years.

Dr. Rowe served as president of the Etowah County Medical Society and of the Medical Staff at Gadsden Regional Medical Center. He was a former president of the Gadsden Rotary Club, the Gadsden Country Club, where he was a member of the Supreme Court Coffee Club, and the Gadsden Concert Series. He served on the Vestry, as Senior Warden and as a lay Eucharistic Minister at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter in Gadsden and left there a lasting tribute to his wife, Katherine, through his donation of a beautiful stained glass window located in the Great Hall. Dr. Rowe also provided the land for the establishment of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Rainbow City and for the establishment of Westbrook Christian School. He served as Medical Director of the Hospice Association of Gadsden and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Gadsden/Etowah Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Rowe served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Gadsden/Etowah Industrial Development Agency and as a senior Board Member at Regions Bank in Gadsden.

He was a founding member of the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association and served on its Board of Directors and as its president. In recognition of his service to the association, he was awarded that organization's 1996 Distinguished Alumnus Award. His contribution to the Association's Medical Alumni Building Fund enabled the establishment of the Medical Alumni Building in Birmingham. He served on the advisory board for the College of Community Health Services in Tuscaloosa. He also served as President of and on the Board of Directors of the Caduceus Club.

Dr. Rowe is survived by his wife of 55 years, Katherine Glover Rowe; his sister, Henrietta Rowe Jordan; children, Stephen Glover Rowe, DMD, Clay Coston Rowe, M.D. and his wife Tammy, Douglass Norwood Rowe and his wife Melissa, and Kathryn Reed Rowe Horton and her husband Harlan, along with his beloved grandchildren, Rebecca, Coston, Stephen Peter and Charley Rowe, as well as Stephen and Andrew Horton, his step-granddaughter, Tiffany Bryant and his West Highland White Terriers, Paddington and Pawleys. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Mercer Rowe and Felix Rowe, his brother Mercer Rowe Jr. and his grandson, Stephen G. Rowe Jr.

Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter with visitation two hours prior in the Great Hall. Burial will be at Forrest Cemetery. The Rev. James E. Elliott Jr. will officiate. Collier-Butler Funeral and Cremation services will direct.