Letter to Floyd

Dear Floyd -

Elder Reeve and I are serving a mission in the Korea Seoul Mission, but I wanted to send you a message to let you know of a few special memories I have of you. You always had a sweet, kind smile on your face whenever I’d see you at Church or in what our neighborhood in Redmond. The sign said it was the Bellewood North neighborhood. It was a blessing to be your neighbor for a number of years before you moved to Gig Harbor. Some of our children were in the same classes and played together. It was so lovely to move up to this new area of the country in 1980 and have such nice friends close by. We were sad when your family moved, but we were blessed to see you when you and Jeanie came up to wedding receptions or other special events.

There was one place where I saw you often that inspired and set a marvelous example for me. You and Jeanie often came to the Seattle Temple while I was serving as an ordinance worker there on Saturday nights. Your smile radiated the sweet spirit I felt as the two of you walked up to greet me. Even after your memory started being affected, you sometimes would remember my name and greet me as if we were still neighbors. I really enjoyed seeing you as friends, but it was clear that you were there to be with your true friends, Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. All could see that you LOVE the Temple and gained strength and joy from attending there to be with Them.

Love - Sister Reeve

Memories of Floyd

General ---
Neighbor and friend Floyd Rowe was a man of courage, faith and kindness. On one occasion in the early 1980s in Redmond, Washington, he willingly came to our house and helped me carry heavy construction materials upstairs, although he had to be careful to protect his back. When someone asked for help, there was no hesitation, and no weary sigh. His concern for others was constantly apparent.
Church service ---
Brother Rowe has been bold in standing for Church guidelines and principles. He advocated and counseled for consideration and balance in Church matters, striving always to be in tune with Church leadership. When he was a counselor to bishop Wilhite, we in the ward could count on Brother Rowe for kindly, brave leadership. When he gave talks, he gave manly, powerful testimony, and used clear, helpful scripture references. We knew we were getting the heart of the matter when he spoke.
Church drama memory ---
In 1983, I was an awkward actor portryaying professor “Harold Hill” in a ward production of excerpts from the musical play “Music Man” by Meredith Willson. Floyd was my main antagonist, an anvil salesman hot on the trail of the slippery band instrument seller whose deceptive antics were making life difficult for other traveling salesmen. Floyd and I never had any conflicts in real life, but on stage, he was the fearful pursuer, and I the scrambling fugitive. He was a convincing actor. I’m glad the play did not call for any personal combat. Offstage, we smiled and had good times reflecing on how we were playing the roles of bitter opponents.
Sports memories
Track --- A man moved into our ward in Redmond, Washington and recognized brother Rowe as a greatly respected track star from his high school in Idaho. Floyd was a powerful runner, and one of the best in the history of Idaho in his events in high school in his day.
Volleyball --- Brother Rowe, with his mountainous and agile son Rick, and other family members were lions on the volleyball court, from reports. This writer has no data from memories of watching the games, but based on reports from other members, Kirkland stake volleyball efforts in the 1980s and possibly 1990s were impacted favorably by members of the strong, quick Rowe family members.
Basketball --- There were some choice happy personal memories of playing on Kirkland First Ward’s adult men basketball team in the early 1980s. Brother Rowe did not claim to be a top-tier basketball player, and he was not usually among the tallest. But he was a great competitor for rebounds, brilliant at going after the ball when it got loose, and a fine passer. He was an assertive scorer. He could make quick moves, and he caused opposing teams many anxious moments. On defense, he was typically quite frustrating for opponents to deal with. He, along with Victor Johansen, Barry Scalise and Richard (Dick) Wood combined talents with other ward brethren to put up some fine performances against truly skillful and imposing teams at times. On one occasion, I was facing away from the basket, holding the ball and trying to do something productive with it. There was a desire to somehow get the ball in the basket, but with very close guarding, I did not know what to do. Then glancing back and seeing Floyd quickly cutting toward the basket in front of a defender, yours truly desperately swerved the ball down in a sudden bounce pass to him. He knew exactly what to do with the ball. My mind was then at ease.
It appeared to me that often times our opponents’ only way to stop Floyd from scoring was to foul him. As I recall, he had marks or bruises on his arms to show this.
Though Floyd had a tremendous competitive drive, he was understanding and patient with teammates whose efforts were somewhat less luminous.

--- Elder ‘Frank’ M. Reeve, Korea Seoul mission

Status Update

Things are looking much brighter today! My Dad got to come home from the hospital today much sooner than expected. It's such a blessing! Looks like Mom and Dad will be entering a new phase of life in learning how to eat with most of Dad's stomach gone. It should be interesting. So far, the pain stops him soon enough if he tries for too much at once. I think it will be a long process; at least now it will take place in the comfort of their own home rather than a hospital.

The other good news received this week was a re-diagnosis of the type of cancer he has. After the surgery, they did an additional biospy and found that rather than a chondrosarcoma as they originally stated; it was actually a GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor). They will have follow-up visits with the oncologist at UW some time in the next couple of weeks and we hope to get more information at that time.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and kind words. The Lord has blessed us with a quicker recovery and better outlook than we had originally hoped for. Thank you all and thank our Father in Heaven for his blessings and support.

Bishop Rowe

Whenever I think of my teen years, the Rowe family stands out. Here, in their lovely home, were a couple of the greatest parents I knew. Bishop Rowe, as I knew him, was ever present in the background of our get toegethers, content to let girls be girls, while Sis. Rowe was right in the mix enjoying time with her daughter and their friends. Bishop and Sister Rowe were great people with an obvious love for their children and strong testimonies of the gospel; The spirit was ever present in their home. A gospel centered home with a righteous priesthood holder at it's core made for a safe, happy environment to visit. I appreciate Bishop Rowe for raising his children to be upright, honest and good examples. I thank him for his wonderful example and his nonjudgemental, mild-mannered demeanor. My thoughts and prayers are with him.

Kerry Tegerdine

Here's to you, Floyd

My son, Anthony, met and married "Pammy" Rowe, and I was so happy that he found someone as sweet and caring as she was. In the process of their relationship, I also had the pleasure of getting to know Floyd and Jeanie, and I immediately knew where Pam got her wonderful traits from. She had caring parents who instilled their gentleness, kindness, patience, and the love of God into her persona; such was the result of these parents who took the time to really raise their five children.

In Floyd, this gentle man, I could see that he truly loved his family so much, his children, his wife, his Lord; and again, I was so happy that my son was included in their family. (Floyd even plays horsey with my grandsons, which I do not have the patience for. They love him dearly, as do I for caring so much for them.)

Though it has been hard to stand back and watch Floyd go through so much these last few years, in my heart of hearts, I knew that all the goodness he has done here, as well as his suffering, have earned him rewards beyond imagination.

So here's to you, Floyd, a wonderful, caring, God loving parent, and grandparent. You are an example and an inspiration to all who have come to know you. My prayers are with you.

Liz Keliinoi

Surgery Update

My Dad had surgery yesterday. It lasted about 6 hours. In the morning when my Mom met with the doctors it sounded more involved than they had let on the previous Thursday. Then once they were 4 hours into it they called her and told her that the tumor was larger than they had expected and difficult to reach but they had gotten it out. They said it was difficult and they would be another 2 hours.
In the end, they removed over 90% of his stomach, his entire spleen and gal bladder and part of his pancreas. They have sedated him and will keep him that way all Tuesday. He is in ICU at UW Med hospital. They are watching him closley now, hoping to avoid any infections. He is scheduled to remain there for at least 3 weeks. My brother Spencer is there with my Mom now. My sister Melanie and her husband will be there this weekend. My aunts and uncle will be rotating through to help out. At this time we would appreciate your prayers. Thanks for your kind inquiries; I'll try to keep this blog up to date on his progress.

Gift of Time

"It's funny that pirates were always going around searching for treasure, and they never realized that the real treasure was the fond memories they were creating." -Jack Handy
It never ceased to amaze me the way Dad always found time to do things with us. It wasn't until years later that I thought about the fact that he was working at least eight hour days, serving as a brand new bishop in a ward he didn't know and he still found time to coach my basketball team.
One Christmas in particular sticks out to me. Normally Mom and Dad did a great job of throwing me off the trail of my presents, but this year I was sure that Dad had bought a remote control airplane. But the catch was, it wasn't mine. It was for me and Dad. I think he was more excited about it than I was. At the time I thought that he was using me as an excuse to buy himself a really cool toy, but in retrospect I know that he did it because he knew it was a way to spend quality time with a son who was quickly transforming into a teenager. We spent hours together preparing to fly that thing. We put it together, built things for it, went to the hobby shop to talk to the pros, and took turns taxiing the plane up and down the street in front of our house.
The problem was, neither of us actually knew how to fly it. But, the laws of aviation be darned, we decided one day that we were going to do it. So we took it over to the high school track to make our maiden voyage into the wild blue yonder. Dad tried first but couldn't seem to get it off the ground. At my young age I didn't have a strong understanding of lift and how airplanes managed to stay in the air for extended periods of time. So I grabbed the controls, pushed the throttle all the way forward, pulled the flaps all the way back and watched my plane climb up high into the air. Then I watched my plane stall and spiral back down toward the track. At this point in time I panicked and shoved the controls back into Dad's hands. He was not able to save it. After maybe five seconds of flight, I watched our plane nosedive into the grass, scattering the engine among other valuable parts all over the football field.
Reflecting on that day now, I'm amazed that never once did I hear any kind of scolding or negative comments from either of my parents for having smashed what I'm sure was an expensive toy. In fact, we all just kind of laughed about it. Unlike the pirates that Jack Handy talks about, Dad realized that the memories we had made were far more important than the plane itself.

What fun!!

I remember as a small child waiting for Dad to get home and standing at the top of the stairs as he walked in to sing, I'm so glad when Daddy comes home. We were always excited for him to get home. We loved it when he would play with us. He would tickle us mercilesly until we were afraid we would wet our pants. He would chase us up the stairs with us squealing the whole way. He would also lay on his back while we stood on his hands and then he would lift us up high in the air and try to balance us. We would also put our tummies on his feet and then he would fly us around like superman( while he was still on his back). When I was older, on one of our trips to Idaho to see his parents we went scurfing in their yard. They were flood irrigating and Dad found a piece of scrap sheet metal. Somehow, he tied a rope to it and pulled us all around the yard on it. We had a great time! Dad was real good at keeping a balance in his life. Thanks for all the fun times Dad. I love you!

Love Melanie

Dedication to The Lord

When I think of all the things I have learned from my father growing up, I can't help but think of his never ending service to The Lord, and his seemingly never ending source of energy to work. One of the times that stands out the most to me is from right before his brain surgery. He had been in severe pain for about a week leading up to the surgery, and had even tried to go back to work one day, but vomited shortly after arriving from the pain. I remember rubbing his back and neck to try and help him relax at night, and I have never felt anything like it. Every muscle in his body seemed to be in one huge knot and extremely tight. It was amidst all this pain that I remember him one night coming down from his room because he needed to make some phone calls for his church calling at the time. For some reason this image of him humbly making phone calls for The Lord, while in extreme agony, with the person on the other side of the phone never having any clue, (because he never let on while talking with them) has never left my mind. I know I will never forget that image for the rest of my life, and his determination to serve our Father in Heaven at all costs, will for ever be an example to me.

Computer Genius

It's funny what memories flash before you when prompted to think...when invited to share a memory of Floyd, instantly my introduction to computers came to mind. Back in 1990, just after we had moved into our new home and Daniel was a newborn, I began thinking of the potential part computers would play in our children's lives. Articles popped up often about how computers were the way of the future and that computer skills would be mandatory for future jobs and occupations. I figured they would also hit the schools. In very short time, Floyd and I were having frequent conversations about that, and I came to the conclusion that it would be a good thing to learn, despite Lance and Ben's lack of enthusiasm for a new electronic device of dubious value. The real truth be known tho, computers were being introduced into the family history world--that was reason enough for me!!
Despite my best efforts to learn about computers, their RAM, hard drive, etc. I didn't quite see the picture, so I went to Floyd for help in selecting the computer that would serve us best. THIS is what I remember best....he told me to spend the extra money and get the most RAM I could....and if I could get 25 MB I would be set for quite a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, I did--and it did, and I laugh every time I think of my computer now having 250 GB!!! We've come a long way, baby!!

Sunday School Teacher

One of the things I remember about your dad is when he was called to be our youth Sunday School teacher for a while. We were kind of a big, talkative class, and I remember that he just had a way of commanding our respect from that first day he taught us, and told us that if we wanted to learn, we should stay in class and he would teach us, but if we didn't want to learn we should go somewhere else. And I remember that we actually did listen, and I appreciated him a lot as a teacher, even though I think it was only for a short time.

This memory was emailed to me by: Suzanne Reeve
Thanks Suzanne!

"They made the new inactive guy a Bishop!!"

About the time when Floyd and his family moved to Gig Harbor due to starting his new job at Russell I was serving as the EQ President in our Ward. We had been working on a fellow who had not been active for many years. We learned that he liked basketball so we planned for a special night where many of us would show up and play ball to fellowship him. I made the announcement in Priesthood one Sunday and it was all set.

The big night came but the brother didn't show up. I'd also invited Floyd to join us since he was new to the area and loved to play ball too. I didn't think anything of it until several weeks later when Dave Allen came up to me at church very excited. He told me that they had just made the new inactive guy at basketball the Bishop of the other Ward! I guess I never mentioned to him that the real person didn't show up and Floyd was new to the area.

Later on at work I told Floyd about it and we both got a real laugh out of it. Floyd told me maybe that is why everyone seemed so extra nice to him, he just thought is was a very friendly group of guys...

Las Vegas - Circa 1993

I remember going to Las Vegas with Floyd for an industry conference when we worked together at Russell. We had quite a trip. We left on a Fast Sunday in the late afternoon. I decided to fast right on through until we would get a "meal" on the plane (remember those days?). It turned out to be a peanut flight....

Floyd and I checked into the hotel on the strip and quickly found one of the buffets. It was five bucks and all you can eat. They lost money on Floyd and I that night. Three helpings each not counting desert!

It was a productive conference and good to be together with Floyd. We had a FHE together in his room on Monday night. Lots of fun.

The quote I"ll always remember him saying on this trip had to do with the environment. We were staying at Circus Circus if I remember correctly and had to walk through the Casino to get to our rooms each day. There was such a bad spirit there. Floyd turned to me after walking to our rooms one evening and said, "I think the Holy Ghost is waiting for us outside!"

Well said, Floyd!

Fi, Fie, Foe, Fum...

Okay so a cute little story about my kids. We were in the car driving around town the other day and Hyrum and Gabe were playing a game guessing what sounds the other was making. Gabe was making the sounds: "Meow" and Hyrum was guessing: "A cat!" They continued for a while and then Gabe says "Fi, Fie, Fo, Fum..." in a scary voice. Hyrum excitedly says "Grandpa! Grandpa!" "No" Gabe says, it's not Grandpa (thinking it was just a monster). "Yes, it is!" Hyrum insists, "cause every time we play hide and seek with Grandpa he always says: Fi, Fie, Foe, Fum I smell the blood of an Englishman; be he big or be he small, I shall eat him; one and all!" At this Gabe, also excitedly, says "Oh yeah! Oh yeah, it is Grandpa!"
I sat in the front of the car and just smiled to myself so glad that my Dad takes time to play with my children. They love Grandpa and know that He loves them.

My Dad's cancer

For those of you hearing for the first time that my Dad has cancer, let me give you just a few details. In July of 2008 they found a large mass in his stomach. Since that time, they have determined that it is a chondrosarcoma. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not very effective in treating this type of cancer. The normal course of action is to surgically remove the tumor. My Dad will have surgery on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 to remove this tumor. We are hoping all will go well and would appreciate your prayers on his behalf. He should be in the hospital for 8-10 days and then continue his recovery at home for the next few months. It looks like some of his family will be traveling to WA to help my Mom in caring for him. That's about all the information we have at this time and just continue to pray that all will be as the Lord has planned for Him.

Breaking the Ice

If you know the title, you already know the story. I wish I had a picture to go along with this one! Anyway, this is about my first visit to my wife's home to meet the family. As you can imagine, it was a little nerve racking as it always is going to meet the parents-the ones who would scrutinize me and determine if I was a worthy suitor for their daughter. Floyd being in the Stake Presidency added to the pressure. I mean, I had interviews with him for callings before this.

So I got there and walked in the house. The whole family appeared to be there. Everyone seemed a little startled and jolted. Pam and I walked in, and I approached the family and introduced myself. As I looked to my right I noticed why everyone seemed to be a little on edge. There, in it's glory was Floyd's half moon to greet me (yes, I mean his bum).

Turns out Pam's naturopath brother-in-law Gary was giving Floyd acupuncture on his lower back that ended up being a little lower than he anticipated. So there lay President Rowe on the chiropractic table, pants pulled down just enough with some needles sticking up. Floyd just looked at me and said, "well, that's one way to break the ice!"

We all just laughed hysterically. That was my first introduction to the Rowe family humor, fun, and kindness. It was something I'll never forget. I don't remember it now, but I'm sure Jeanie was beat red. :)

My Uncle, a Righteous and Gentle Man

We often went to visit our cousins at Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Floyd's house as kids. My memories of those times are endless--but many of them are of Uncle Floyd cooking for all of us. This was so different from the home I was growing up in, that I didn't really know what to do with it. The dad was cooking while the mom was home? What was up with that? Now I get it, and Aunt Jeanie is a lucky woman.
He's made homemade chicken noodle soup--and by homemade I mean he MAKES the noodles! Also, I never make tomatoe soup without thinking of how he once made it for us in a huge pot, taking special care to stir it with a whisker constantly so it wouldn't scald--I still love tomato soup. The food I most associate with Uncle Floyd, and can never hear about without thinking of him, is scones. Oh, my, goodness. I do not mean the floury, crumbly, biscuit like jobbers you get at the fair. Talk about one of the worst bait and switches I've ever experienced! No, I am referring to Uncle Floyd's deep fat fried scones. They were greasy, and crispy, yet often chewy all at the same time. The scones were delicious alone, but there was also the honey butter to be slathered on. Honey butter is quiet literally one of the most heavenly things my mouth has ever tasted. We would sit and wait in line for a few to be done at a time, burning our mouths because we couldn't wait to eat our scone with honey butter--my mouth waters as I write!
The foods trigger the memories, but the lesson learned, for me at least, was that a dad (or uncle) could be nurturing. A man can help care for kids without complaint, and aid in creating warm childhood memories. I love Uncle Floyd and plan to post many more memories I have of him.

A Lesson Learned

When I was in junior high, I was on the volleyball team. I didn't get along with my coach very well. One day I was still at a friends house when practice time rolled around. A group of my friends were all going to the mall together and wanted me to join them and skip my practice. I called my Dad and discussed it with him. He told me that I was old enough to make the decision and they had taught me what was right and he would leave it up to me. I hung up the phone excited and told my friends I'd be going with them. Later that day when I returned home, my Dad met me, asked how my day was, said he was glad I had enjoyed it and now I was grounded. I couldn't believe it. I said "You told me it was my choice, how can I be grounded?" He then taught me a valuable lesson, he said "Yes, I did say it was your choice, I also said we'd taught you what was right. I had hoped you'd make the right decision. However, even though the choice was yours; the consequences were not. Always remember, you can make your decision, but you can't choose the consequences of that decision." I couldn't argue with that and had to accept my Dad's wisdom. Even though I may not have the exact wording, the message remains clear. You'll never know how much that lesson affected me. I have never forgotten it, nor will I.