Jacob Elisha Rowe

Jacob Elisha Rowe, Sr., former Georgia Southern Eagle athlete and head basketball coach, died Friday afternoon at age 74 surrounded by his loving family.
Referred to as a "master motivator", J.E. was an exceptional athlete and coach who had a lifelong passion for sports.
J.E. lettered in basketball and baseball at Fitzgerald High School in Fitzgerald, Georgia. He went on to play basketball and baseball at Brewton Parker, and then at Georgia Southern College, where he earned All-American first team honors in baseball.
J.E. had a brief professional baseball career, playing several seasons with the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a successful high school coaching career, he returned to Georgia Southern University where he accepted the head coach position for the Eagles basketball team. He coached for four seasons, compiling a 57-46 record as the Eagles moved to NCAA Division I, and went 19-7 in his final season. J.E. was inducted in the Georgia Southern Athletic Hall of Fame and was named the 2013 Alumnus of the Year of the College of Health and Human Sciences. He was a decorated amateur golfer, winning numerous local and state amateur tournaments and carrying a 0 handicap for 20 years. In March of 1993, J.E. underwent his second open heart surgery, and in July came back to win the Gate PGA Open Senior title. J.E. competed in two U.S. Senior Amateur Opens and lead the amateur team of the North Florida PGA Cup Championship to back-to-back victories.
J.E. leaves behind his loving wife, Janice Lee McDaniel Rowe. He was a loving father to five children, Lisa Rowe Lee and her husband John, Barbara Rowe Stewart and her husband Glenn, Allison Combs Pound, Jacob Elisha Rowe, Jr., and his wife Lisa, and Michael Frederick Waglow. J.E. was adored by his nine grandchildren, Whitney Skeeters Mooney and her husband Yancey, Justin Stewart, Mallory Stewart, Win Lee, Kaitlyn Rowe, Lauren Rowe, Addisyn Rowe, Hannah Pound and Zachary Pound.
The visitation will be on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at St. Johns Funeral Home, located at 385 State Roads 207, St. Augustine, Florida. The funeral will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Anastasia Baptist Church, located at 1650 A1A St. Augustine, Fla,, with interments at 2 p.m. at Oak Lawn Cemetery on San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Coach J.E. Rowe Scholarship at Georgia Southern University's College of Health and Human Sciences, c/o PO Box 8073, Statesboro GA 30460. The scholarship is given out on a yearly basis for a high-need student.
Courtesy of Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home.

Statesboro Herald, September 15, 2013
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