Obituary of Marcella Margaret Rowe

Marcella was born in St. Louis, Missouri, second child of James and Clara (nee Fortmann) Wilsonholme and lived most of her life near there. She was a graduate of Webster Groves High School, and worked as a telephone operator, and later as a secretary at the B-1 Beverage Company in the 1940's. She met Donald M. Rowe, a Technical Sergeant in the U. S. Army Air Corps, at a USO dance in 1944, and they were married on June 7, 1945. Their first home together was in Lansing, Michigan, Donald's home town, where their first child, Donald James, was born in November, 1946. Shortly afterward they moved to St. Louis where Donald worked as a cartographer (mapmaker) for the U. S. Defense Mapping Agency. They bought a home on Woodbine Avenue in Kirkwood, Missouri, where they would live until Donald M.'s retirement. In January, 1955, their daughter, Kathleen Ann, was born in Richmond Heights. After both children were in school, Marcella worked as an Avon representative and at the Montgomery Ward catalog store in Kirkwood. She and Donald M. lived on Woodbine until 1984, 11 years after his retirement, when he and Marcella moved to Winter Haven, Florida. On May 30, 1985, Donald M. passed away. Marcella continued living in Florida until 2008, when she moved back to St. Louis to care for her sister, Norma Ecker, who was in poor health. In 2009 Marcella moved into a small apartment where she lived until May of 2011, when she suffered a mild stroke and was subsequently found to have colon cancer. After successful surgery she moved to Tacoma, Washington to live near her son. Marcella persevered through several more hospitalizations, but on January 27, 2013, she passed away after suffering a heart attack. Marcella enjoyed many different activities throughout her life; she was active in her parish community at St. Peter's Catholic Church and school, and was very involved in Scouting while her children were young; she enjoyed sewing and quilting; she learned the art of paper quilling; liked cooking and gardening, travel, camping and fishing, all of which she was able to share with her husband after his retirement. Marcella was quick to make friends, and with her caring, giving nature, took care of several of her friends in their later years. After retirement, she was an officer in the Winter Haven, Florida chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE). Marcella was always there when anyone needed anything. She enjoyed having her family visit, and visiting them in the various places they lived. Marcella was preceded in death by her parents, her elder sister Frances Luchtefeld and her younger sister Norma Ecker, and is survived by her brother James (Kay) Wilsonholme; her son Donald (Marilee) Rowe and daughter Kathleen (Greg) Hiatt; grandchildren Eric (Melissa) Rowe, Coriene (Mark) Stevens, Geoff (Elizabeth) Hiatt, and Galen Hiatt, and many great-grandchildren. Funeral Mass will be at St. Peter's Catholic Church, 243 West Argonne Drive, Kirkwood, Missouri, 63122, on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 10 A. M., and internment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery.