Nan Tompkins Rowe, passed peacefully in her sleep and went to be with the Lord on December 26, 2020, at the Hermitage Care & Rehabilitation Center in Owensboro.
She was born in Indianapolis, IN on August 21, 1929. At 12 days old, she was adopted by Henry P “Chick” Tompkins and Della May “Muddie” Tompkins. Nan was always proud to tell people she had been adopted and spent her entire life feeling blessed for having such wonderful parents.
Nan’s family moved to Owensboro in 1929, and later settled in Elkhart, IN. She met the love of her life and future husband at Elkhart High School. She graduated from Ward Belmont College in Nashville in 1949 and married Tom Rowe in 1950 in Elkhart. In 1955, she and Tom moved to Owensboro.
Nan was a member of First Presbyterian Church since 1955, served as a Deacon and a greeter, along with her husband, Tom, on Sunday mornings, for many years. She helped establish the Cliff Hagan Boys Club (now the Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club) in Owensboro and was an honorary lifetime board member. She was a homemaker, enjoyed her music, dancing, and antiques, but most of all, her family, friends and church.
Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Thomas A Rowe, Jr, a granddaughter, Amy Elizabeth Rowe and her beloved cousin, Della May Frazier of Indianapolis.
She is survived by two sons, Blake Rowe, Sr (Janice), of Owensboro and Brent Rowe, (Libby Simon), of Bowling Green, Ky, two grandsons, John Rowe, (Sara), of Knoxville, TN and Blake Rowe, Jr (Ravin), of Bloomington, IN, a great-grandson, Blake “Trey” Rowe III, of Bloomington, IN and three great-granddaughters, Elizabeth, Emily and Danielle Rowe, of Knoxville, TN.
Our heartfelt thanks to the staff at the Hermitage for the loving care that mom received this past year.
A memorial service will be held at James H Davis Funeral Home at a later date.
Expressions of sympathy can be made to First Presbyterian Church or the Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club.