Dr. Steve Edward Rowley

Services for Dr. Steve Edward Rowley, 60, of Tyler will be held on Friday, Jan. 14, 2011, at 2 p.m. at Green Acres Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. David Dykes officiating.

Burial will follow in Cathedral in the Pines Cemetery in Tyler under the direction of Stewart Family Funeral Home.

Dr. Rowley passed away Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011, at Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler.

He was born Nov. 3, 1950, in Fort Worth. He was a member of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler.

Dr. Rowley graduated from The University of Texas, Arlington, and Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency in family practice at Fort Worth Osteopathic Medical Center. He served in the United States Air Force Reserve for 10 years and at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., four years as a medical officer. He was in private practice briefly in Burleson before moving to Tyler where he established a clinical practice followed by Long Term Care Associates, serving elderly patients in the Tyler and East Texas area.

Dr. Rowley was certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians in family practice, geriatrics, and hospice and palliative medicine. Over his 26 years in practice, Dr. Rowley served in numerous positions, including chief of staff and chief of Emergency Services at Doctors Memorial Hospital, Texas Society of the American College of General Practitioners Board of Trustees, secretary/treasurer of the Texas Medical Directors Association, Texas Medical Directors Association Board of Directors, Texas Osteopathic Medical Association Board of Trustees, president of the Texas Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, clinical faculty of The University of Texas Health Science Center, and medical director of Heart to Heart Hospice, Legacy Hospice and various long-term care nursing homes. He was also associate medical director of Dierksen Memorial Hospital in Texarkana. Dr. Rowley was awarded Degree of Fellow from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

He held memberships in the American Osteopathic Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, Texas Osteopathic Medical Association, American Medical Directors Association, Texas Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, American College of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine, and the National Osteopathic Honorary Fraternity Sigma Sigma Phi.

Dr. Rowley was preceded in death by his father, George Rowley.

He is survived by his loving wife, Judi Rowley of Tyler; children, Ryan Edward Rowley, Christy Lyn Rowley, Regan Elizabeth Rowley, Amanda Rowley Cooper, and Amber Billion, all of Tyler; mother, Jackie Simmons Rowley of North Richland Hills; sisters, Kathy Thornbrough of Mansfield, Jeanie Lindsey of Fort Worth, and Jenny Lynn Offield of Hurst.

Pallbearers will be Ryan Rowley, Brandon Cooper, Harold Thornbrough, Charlie Lindsey, M.D. "Shorty" Offield and Terry Hitt.

Memorials in honor of Dr. Steve E. Rowley, if desired, may be made to Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center, Medical City Hospital of Dallas, 7777 Forest Lane, Building C, No. 707, Dallas, 75320.