Suanne Rowe

A small-town girl with a big heart, Suanne Ruth Cunningham Rowe, aged 83, beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend to all who knew her, passed peacefully on Saturday afternoon, November 8 surrounded by family at the home of her daughter, Marjorie Livingston. A proud Ohioan from the small Village of Lowellville in Coitsville Township, Mahoning County, outside Youngstown, she lived a full life shaped by her Christian faith, love of family, and small-town values. Growing up in a family furniture and funeral business, Sue spent many happy days with her sisters, Marcia and Kathy, her dear friend Elizabeth, as well as cousins and friends on her family's SuMarKa farm outside Lowellville. Here, she swam in the pond in the summer and ice skated on it in the winter, rode her beloved horse Sally in local horse shows, was active in her 4H group where she enjoyed sewing, and went to Columbus, Ohio with Girls State and Washington, D.C. with her high school classmates. She was also active in her local churches, the First Christian Church of Lowellville and later Disciples of Christ in Youngstown. It was in Lowellville that she responded to an altar call at the age of 12, affirming her life-long love for Jesus, her Lord and Savior, and where she first played the organ in church and continued her love of playing the piano and organ throughout her life. Graduating as salutatorian of her Lowellville high school class, Suanne went on to study home economics at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio where she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Upon graduating in 1964, she went on her first major overseas trip, seeing the sights of Europe, before she moved to Boston for her dietetic internship at Massachusetts General Hospital, which was considered to be the best dietetic program at that time. She enjoyed many happy years working under Miss Hatch and enjoying city life with her Apartment 9C roommates Adeline, Linda and Rosemary. It was here in Boston that she met the love of her life, Roger, via "old school" letters of introduction via his cousin's wife, Carol, and Sue's mom, Charlotte. Their courtship culminated in an engagement on Martha's Vineyard where Roger met not just the parents but many members of Sue's extended family! The rest is history as they say, leading to 58 years of a happy marriage, with three children, Jocelyn, Christopher, and Marjorie. They loved to go dancing, held hands walking into church, made donuts for neighbors at Christmas time, and quietly served their friends and family in countless ways. Raising their family in Rockville, Maryland, Sue and Roger kept their faith and love for Jesus at the center of their marriage and family life. An active member of St. James Episcopal Church in Potomac, Maryland, Sue was part of Bible studies and fellowship groups where she formed lasting friendships, including with her friends Lucy and Dorothy, Cursillo and Marriage Encounter with Roger, brought her pineapple upside down cake to many a church bake sale, and supported her children's faith via Sunday School, youth group and children's choir as an accompanist. A loving and active mother, Sue was very hands-on with her children's Scout groups, including camping trips, a Father-Daughter square dance, as well as many family trips to the Smithsonian museums after Sunday church. She would sew costumes for plays and ballet recitals and also drove countless times to piano and ballet lessons. Sue loved everything about food and nutrition and kept her hand in dietetics, via her nightly home cooked meals as well as teaching courses at Montgomery College and was active in her county, state, and national dietetic membership meetings, keeping up her licensure across the decades. She was proud to have achieved her 50-year membership and licensure with the American Dietetic Association. She also freely shared her dietetic knowledge with anyone who needed it. A life-long learner and seeker, Suanne, with Roger, was received into the fullness of the Catholic Faith in 2010 at the young age of 68 at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Libertytown, Maryland. She and Roger enjoyed many faith formation classes at St. Peter's as well as a pilgrimage trip to Portugal and Spain. They also enjoyed trips to Hawaii, England and France, the Philippines, and lastly, the Holy Land in 2017 where they renewed their wedding vows in Cana, Galilee for their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Suanne was predeceased by her beloved Roger, this past August, as well as her parents, Ralph and Charlotte and her infant sister, Barbara Ann. She is survived by her adult children, Jocelyn Rowe of Washington, D.C., Christopher Rowe and wife Lily of Parkville, MD, and Marjorie Livingston and husband James of Westminster, MD; 6 grandchildren, Zenaida Rowe, Aidan Rowe, Evangeline Rowe, Therese Livingston, Lucy Livingston, and Mary Margaret Livingston; her sisters, Marcia Sieg of Barrington, Illinois and Kathleen Yeloushan of Clarkston, Michigan; five nieces, five nephews and her godchildren. The family will receive friends at Hartzler Funeral Home, New Windsor, Maryland, on Sunday, November 16, 2025 from 3pm until 5pm, with a Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet beginning at 5pm. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Monday November 17, 2025 at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Libertytown, MD at 11 am, with a tribute read before the Mass. Father John Worgul will be the celebrant. Interment will follow at St. Peter's Cemetery with a luncheon in the church hall immediately following the interment. A message or memory may be placed on Sue's "tribute wall" at www.hartzlerfuneralhome.com. Donations in her memory may be made to the Missionaries of Charity, 2800 Otis Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20018.