FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Joe Rowell dies at Bristol Tennessee

["Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Joseph Waverly Rowell, 81, of Bristol, Tennessee, died today (Wed., Jan. 25), 
at his home in Bristol. 

He is the father of Dr. Brent Rowell, a pioneer research naturalist at Steele 
Creek Park, who wrote the park nature center's first program plan under 
contract with the city (Steele Creek Nature Center Development Plan, 1992). He 
completed the park's first ever natural history inventories for two years as 
the park's first paid naturalist (1970). Brent was formerly a member of the 
editorial staff of The Migrant (Tennessee journal of ornithology) and was 
regional editor of the Eastern Mountain Region of the "Season Report" in that 
journal. Brent was a Bristol Christmas Count compiler in 1971 and 1972 and a 
member of the Bristol Bird Club in 1991 when he moved back to Bristol for 
several years. In 1975 he was a naturalist at Pickett State Park with the 
Tennessee Department of Conservation.

Joe Rowell was instrument in creating much of the Bristol city government-level 
approach to the natural values of Steele Creek Park. He served as a member of 
the Bristol Tennessee Parks & Recreation Commission from November 28, 1973 to 
March 1979. His service came at a time when the commission had full authority 
for the department's budget and the policies of the park. 

In July 1996 he was appointed by the Bristol Tennessee City Council to serve on 
the Steele Creek Park Nature Center "A Vision For The Future" taskforce along 
with Dr. Ed Burke and Wallace Coffey of the Bristol Bird Club. Kevin Hamed 
worked closely with that group which spent a year developing the plan.

Joe was born in Surry, Virginia, to the late Joseph W. and Mary Elizabeth Bell 
Rowell, and had lived in Bristol since 1952. He was a graduate of the 
University of Virginia and was a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War 
II. Joe was a former professional baseball player and was retired from Dillard 
Paper Company. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church where he had served 
as a deacon and an elder. He had served as president of the Bristol Host Lions 
Club and the Bristol Tigers. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the 
Salvation Army and was a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.

Survivors include his wife, Frances Proffit Rowell; four sons, Steve Rowell and 
his wife Nancy of Winston-Salem, and their children, Kathryn and Jeff; Brent 
Rowell and his wife Phantipa of Lexington, Kentucky, and their daughter, 
Andrea; John Rowell and his wife Kathleen of Valle Cruces, North Carolina, and 
their children Grey, Logan and Thomas; and David Rowell and his wife Lisa of 
Winston-Salem, and their children Michael, Emily and Nathan. Brent Rowell is on 
the faculty of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

Joe will be remembered for his love of woodworking, antiques, antique car 
restoration, travelling and sports, particularly baseball, golf, tennis, 
fishing and his contributions to Steele Creek Park. Most of all, he loved all 
his neighbors, friends and family, and was so appreciative of all their many 
kindnesses and prayers over the past year.

The committal service and interment will be conducted at 3 o'clock Sunday 
afternoon, January 29, 2006, in Glenwood Cemetery. A memorial service will be 
conducted at 4 o'clock Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Bristol, 
Tennessee. Dr. Gordon Turnbull will officiate at both services. The family will 
receive friends immediately following the memorial service in the church 
fellowship hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to 
First Presbyterian Church, 701 Florida Avenue, Bristol, TN 37620, the Salvation 
Army, P.O. Box 887, Bristol, TN 37621, Wellmont Hospice, 280 Steele's Road, 
Bristol, TN 37620 or to the Joe and Frances Rowell Scholarship Fund, Wake 
Forest University, P.O. Box 7227, Winston-Salem, NC 27109. Mr. Rowell and his 
family are in the care of Oakley-Cook Funeral Home and Crematory, 2223 
Volunteer Parkway, Bristol, TN, Telephone (423) 764-7123.

Portions of this post were provided by Oakley-Cook Funeral Home, records from 
the Bristol Herald Courier and the Bristol Tennessee Department of Leisure 
Services as well as the archives of the Bristol Bird Club.

Respectfully,

Wallace Coffey

Bristol, TN