Kenneth Alexander Rowen

Kenneth Alexander Rowen passed away October 8, 2023 at Presbyterian Manor in Lawrence, Kansas.  He was the son of Michael Alexander Rowen, Jr. and Frances (Lichty) Rowen, born May 13, 1927, in Hand County, South Dakota. He was a great promoter of the one-room schools that he attended.  His high school years were during WWII and the superintendent, postmaster, minister, and a farm wife were recruited to teach.

He was drafted into the US Army upon graduation in 1945.  He was trained to be in the second invasion of Japan, but fortunately the atomic bomb took care of that, and he spent his overseas time as a cook in a hospital in Korea.

When he returned home, he entered South Dakota State University and earned his BS in Agriculture Engineering.  He returned to work on his master’s degree, which he earned in 1961, after completing his research on the feasibility of horizontal aquafers for irrigation.

He was employed by the Kansas City District of the US Army Corps of Engineers.  He was Office Engineer on the Kansas River levees, Tuttle Creek Dam at Manhattan, KS and Milford Dam at Junction City, KS. He became Project Engineer for the Melvern Lake at Melvern, KS, Clinton Lake at Lawrence, KS and Hillsdale Lake near Paola, KS.

His retirement years were spent doing volunteer work.  He helped with the first 25 Habitat for Humanity houses in Lawrence, became the area coordinator for the AARP tax program for the elderly and treasurer for the Clinton Lake Ministry.  In 1982 he was asked to join a delegation of Ag Engineers on a People to People tour to the People’s Republic of China.  The U.S. delegation gave presentations at several locations. China was about to build an earthen dam, and they asked to keep Ken’s slides showing the big equipment used at Clinton Dam.  They were still building roads with hand labor.

He was a faithful member of the United Methodist Church.  When the train derailed at Melvern and burned the church, he was on the building committee as well in Lawrence when the fellowship hall was added in 1986.

Ken was a 50-year member of Lions Club International and served as District Governor in 1986-87.  For 25 years he was the Lawrence Noon Lions Club secretary and collected used eyeglasses from local optometrists to be recycled to third world countries.  He and Mary Margaret attended International Conventions in Mexico City, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Seoul, and Birmingham, England.

Hunting was a way of life for Kenneth growing up on a farm in South Dakota and he continued to hunt pheasants each fall.  He and brother Ed hunted elk with their uncle, Con Rowen, and cousins in Halfway, Oregon for 25 years.  He played baseball and softball and helped coach his son’s baseball teams.  Ken maintained vegetable and flower gardens for 45 years at their rural Lawrence home.  When he moved to Presbyterian Manor, he returned to his hobby of oil painting.

Ken married Mary Margaret Robinson in Miller, South Dakota in 1957.  He is survived by his wife and sons:  Rodney and wife Colleen Clark, Rodney’s children Geoffrey and Katelyn, stepsons Phillip and Steven Clark; Donald and wife Claudia and their children Nadine and Douglas (Samantha).  He is also survived by his brother Eugene (Joyce), sister-in-law Janice (Edwin) Rowen, and loving nieces and nephews.  His brother Edwin and sisters Rosina (Ralph) Yager, Delores (Avery) Brown, and Lucille Rowen preceded him in death as well as his parents and stepmother Eva Rowen.

A memorial service for Kenneth will be held at First United Methodist Church at 946 Vermont in Lawrence on November 4 at 11:00 AM.  In lieu of flowers, memorials in his honor may be made to First United Methodist Church or Kansas Lions Sight Foundation in care of Warren McElwain Mortuary, 120 West 13^th St., Lawrence, KS 66044.  Inurnment will be later at the family plot in Wessington, SD.