Constance ""Connie"" R. Rowe

Constance (Connie) Rebecca Clark Pfister Rowe, 93, of Middleton, passed away Saturday, December 5, 2009, at  University Hospital, Madison.      Connie had been in the hospital for just a day and had been in generally good health before that. Actually, for 93, she was in remarkably good health, using her walker to get around. She was on no prescription medications, taking a calcium pill daily and little more. She had lived with Marilyn (her oldest daughter) and Marion Greaser, Middleton, since 2002.       Connie was born in Auburndale, Massachusetts, November 3, 1916, the fifth and youngest child of Dr. Charles Ernest Clark and Ina Van Lieu Clawson Clark. Dr. Clark was a medical missionary in Turkey, and Connie's brothers and sister were born in that country. But World War I necessitated the family's return to the United States where Connie was born, delivered, like her siblings, by her father.       The family was later able to return to Turkey, where Connie spent her early childhood. She attended the American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon, and schools in East Lansing and Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1933, she went to live on a farm in Adrian, Michigan, with Ruth (her older sister) and Charlie Ruesink. Connie graduated from Adrian High School in 1934 and from Michigan State College in 1938 with a degree in home economics education. She taught high school homemaking in Onsted, Reading and Dimondale, Michigan.       On June 21, 1941, Connie married Kenneth Richard Pfister at the Ruth and Charlie's home, when Ken was a senior in veterinary medicine at Michigan State. Ken passed away in January 1983.       In May 1984, Connie married Dudley Ryder Rowe. They lived in Washington, Iowa. Dudley died in September 1997.       Connie is survived by her three daughters: Marilyn ( Marion) Greaser; Marjorie (Wil) Groves of Jewell, Iowa; and Joanne (Dennis) Roos of Lynchburg, Virginia, as well as stepchildren: Howard (Patty), Russell, and Nancy Rowe; plus numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.       No matter where she lived, Connie was always busy with family, church and community activities. She enjoyed writing as a hobby and had poems published in the Sunday School Guide and Lyrical Iowa. In Evansdale, Iowa, she was a Girl Scout leader, continuing her enthusiasm for the organization, begun as a youth. She volunteered with Head Start in Washington, Iowa, and was recognized by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad for her years of outstanding service. She long enjoyed being involved in Bible study, church women's groups, Sunday school (as both student and teacher) and choir. She delighted in her grandchildren's accomplishments and was pleased by the arrival of great grandchildren. She was a friend to everyone, and always had a word of encouragement and a smile to share.      Visitation will be at 10 a.m and celebration of life service at 11 a.m on Friday, December 11, at the Westwood Christian Church, 5210 Odana Road, Madison, Wisconsin. Interment will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, December 12, at the Garden of Memories, 3669 Logan Avenue, Waterloo, Iowa.  Memorials may be given to Global Ministries (earmarked for missionary service in Turkey), Girl Scouts of America, Head Start, or the Westwood Christian Church.