Dewitt Russell Rowland

Dewitt Russell Rowland, 95, of Owensboro, passed away on Saturday, July 26, 2014, at University Village Health Care Center in Tulsa, OK. He was born November 13, 1918, near Yelvington to the late Dewitt and Hazel Rowland. He was a long standing member of Yellow Creek Baptist Church and was retired from a 35+ year career as owner and operator of Pioneer Farm Service. Russell worked as an Assistant County Agent in previous years and was instrumental in setting up the Daviess Pig Corporation. Russell was active in the community and served as a member of the Daviess County Lions Club. He was a past deacon and Sunday School teacher at Yellow Creek Baptist Church and also helped establish the Owensboro chapter of Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International, serving as its first president.

Russell graduated from Daviess County High School in 1938. He attended the University of Kentucky and graduated in 1946 with a BS degree in Agriculture. Russell left college his junior year to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War II from 1941 to 1945. He was stationed in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland and left the 8th Air Force with the rank of Master Sergeant. Following the war, Russell returned to his studies at UK, where he met and fell in love with Frances Louise Wilhoyte. They married June 19, 1948, and spent 61 wonderful years together.

Highlights of his later years include his participation in an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. with his brother A.W. in 2010 and his stroll across the newly renovated Glover Cary Bridge in 2011, which was significant to him because he had also walked across it 71 years earlier when it opened in 1940. Russell loved UK basketball and proudly wore his favorite UK hat every single day after moving to Tulsa. He also enjoyed gardening and it gave him great pleasure to walk around his neighborhood and share his cantaloupes and tomatoes with his neighbors.

Russell was a kind and gentle man, loved by everyone who knew him. He was passionate about education, loved classical music, and was an avid reader.

Russell is survived by his brother, A.W. Rowland of Greenville, KY; two sisters, Judith Alvis of Bradenton, FL and Martha Rowland of Owensboro; two sons, Byron Rowland and wife Judy of Maceo, KY and Wesley Rowland of Visalia, CA; two daughters and their spouses, Rachel and David Wagner of Bixby, OK, and Nancy and Tim Aure of Cottage Grove, WI; 11 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 2 at Yellow Creek Baptist Church with burial following in Yellow Creek Cemetery. Visitation will take place from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1 at Glenn Funeral Home and at 9:30 a.m. at the church on Saturday.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Russell's name to Compassion International (www.compassion.com) or Samaritan's Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org).