William Thomas Rowe
WWII US Marines
William Thomas Rowe, 81, of St. Mary’s County,
Maryland, died on Friday, November 19, 2004 at the home of his daughter, Mary Jane Rowe.
Born February 15, 1923, Tom Rowe was the son of the late John Isaac Rowe and Harriett
Barker Rowe of Catonsville, Md. He was the loving husband of the late Mary Ann Kerr Rowe,
who died in January 2004. Mr. and Mrs. Rowe were married on July 28, 1945 after Mr. Rowe
returned from combat as a Marine in the Pacific Theatre in World War II. Mr. Rowe was the
very beloved father of Suzanne Rowe Wilson of Providence, RI; Mary Jane Rowe of Drayden,
MD; and Nancie Lee Lumpkins of Piney Point, MD; and the father-in-law of Joseph Anderson
and Robert M. Lumpkins, as well as the “adopted” father of Michael Loughran and
his wife, Jane Loughran. Mr. Rowe was the devoted grandfather, known as “Oley,”
of Elaine Herrmann Blais and her husband, Mark Blais; Jamie Herrmann; Thomas Davin- Rowe
Grout; Celia Leigh Wilson; Sarah Anderson; Ryan Hamilton Lumpkins; Robert “Lance”
Lumpkins; and the “adopted” grandfather of Conor Loughran and Shaun Loughran.
Mr. Rowe was the great-grandfather of Jack Henry Blais.
Tom Rowe grew up in Catonsville, Maryland in a home beautifully landscaped by his parents,
who were ardent gardeners. He was the youngest of four boys, all deceased: Robert Rowe,
John Barker Rowe, and James Harrison Rowe. Mr. Rowe attended the Franklin Day School in
Baltimore City and was active on all of their sports teams. He met his future wife, who
was babysitting next door, when they were both 14 years old, but did not begin dating
until shortly before he signed up as a Marine in WWII. Mr. Rowe fought in the battle of
Guam, and upon discharge, when the war ended, married Mrs. Rowe. Mr. Rowe returned to
school in his early 30’s, earning both his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Fine
Arts at the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore in three years, while continuing to
work full-time at night. Mrs. Rowe generously supported his career while raising their
three girls. Mr. Rowe was a student of Ann Schuler and Jacques Maroger, learning and
carrying on the tradition of the Maroger medium and a realistic painting style. Mr. Rowe
was a founder and original member of the Six Realists Gallery in Baltimore, which two
thousand people attended on its opening night in 1961. Mr. Rowe was in national
exhibitions at the Audubon Artists Annual in New York; Provincetown Arts Festival in Rhode
Island; DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA; the 23rd, 24th, and 25th Mid-Year Exhibitions,
Butler Museum of American Art in Ohio; the Peale Museum, Washington; Corcoran Area Art
Exhibition, and Friends of the Corcoran Invitationals, Washington. Prizes were awarded at
the 25th Annual Butler Institute, the Lay Martin Prize, Maryland Artists Regional,
Baltimore Museum, and Best in Show Awards in two Loyola College Annuals. He received a
fellowship to the Ossabaw Island Foundation, Savannah, Ga. Works in collections include:
the Maryland Artist Collection, University of Maryland; the University of Michigan Fine
Arts Collection; the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis; the Edward Hoffmann Collection,
Baltimore; and Morgan State College, Baltimore.
The Rowe family moved to St. Mary’s County from Catonsville in 1968 after Mr. Rowe
established himself as a teacher of fine arts at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Mr.
Rowe developed the art department at St. Mary’s College and was an associate
Professor of Art until his retirement. He is known as the “father of men’s
lacrosse” at St. Mary’s College. Prior to his illness, he taught drawing and
painting to private students in his studio in St. Mary’s City. Mr. Rowe combined his
talent as an artist and a teacher with a life-long love of music and an exceedingly fine
wit. His art classes were marked by music, laughter, his generous appreciation of his
students’ abilities to create and a non-judgmental ability to provide effective
critiques of their work. Mr. Rowe was an inspirational and loving mentor to his daughter,
Jane, and his grandson, Jamie, who are both artists. Mr. Rowe had many art shows during
his years in St. Mary’s County. His last art show, a retrospective of his work, was
held at the North End Gallery in Leonardtown on 9/14/01, following the 9/11 tragedy. This
was a poignant time for family and friends to gather to celebrate a truly unique and
talented man in a unique and tragic time for the whole country. People traveled from far
and wide despite the shutdown of airports in order to be present to celebrate the
wonderful personal and professional life of a great man. Despite the many strokes which
robbed him of the ability to create art and to speak clearly, Tom Rowe remained a
charismatic person, often using only the love and humor in his soft blue eyes and face to
communicate. His was a personality and a talent for art and life that touched an
incredible number of lives. He was the kind of person you never forgot. Such larger than
life human beings are rare and are the stuff of legends, of which there were many in his
lifetime among his many acquaintances and which will only increase with the passing of his
beautiful life. The spirit of Tom Rowe will never die.
The family will receive friends on Monday, November 22 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at
the Brinsfield Funeral Home in Leonardtown, MD. Prayers will be recited at 7:00 p.m. A
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 at
St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Ridge, MD. The Reverend Maurice O’Connell will
be the celebrant. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. Serving as pallbearers
will be Jamie Herrmann, Davin Rowe-Grout, Ryan Lumpkins, Lance Lumpkins, Connor Loughran,
and Sean Loughran. Michael Loughran, Robert Lumpkins, and Joseph Anderson will be honorary
pallbearers. Memorial contributions may be made to the Tom Rowe Art Scholarship at St.
Mary’s College of Maryland or to Hospice at St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown,
MD.
