Fred William Rowe

Lebanon- Fred William Rowe, 81, of Lebanon, Oregon, beloved father, grandfather and great grandfather, went to meet his Lord and Savior on September 20, 2020, with his wife Louise by his side.  Born on December 24, 1938 in Grandfield, Oklahoma, Fred’s family moved to Alpaugh, California when he was a teenager. A few years later, Fred moved to and worked in a lumber mill in Hoopa, California. There he married the love of his life, Louise Hayes in 1960. They were happily married for 60 years. After marrying, Fred moved to the San Jose area, where he worked as a custodian for Hellyer Elementary School and later as an owner-operator of a small trucking operation for 16 years. He moved to Lebanon, Oregon in 1989 and started a janitorial business which he operated until his 2005 retirement. His business was a tremendous source of pride for Fred, who operated the venture along with family members. Through the years Fred worked alongside his daughter, Debbie; son, Kenny and his nieces, Karen Rhodes and Karrie Steinbacher. There was always a lot of laughter as they worked together. Fred was a family man, enjoying spending time with his three children, five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Aside from his love of family, Fred was an avid outdoorsman, loving to spend time fishing, hunting and gardening. He especially loved to fish with his brothers Bert, Jim and Bob at Green Peter and Foster Lake. He also took pride in introducing his grandchildren to the sport. Then there was Fred’s garden. Fred’s garden was like a 9th Wonder of the World. He could grow anything. Corn, green beans, juicy tomatoes, cabbage way bigger than your head-(but maybe not bigger than his head), and okra that was 8 feet tall. He even had two beautiful Kiwi plants.  Fred enjoyed collecting stuff. A lot of stuff. No one knows what to do with all his stuff. But it wasn’t his fault that he loved collecting stuff. We discovered through the ancestry site, “23andMe” that it is a genetic trait that he had no control over. Some of his children may also happily suffer from this attribute. In later years, Fred was able to leave his stuff in Lebanon and do a little traveling. In 2011, Fred experienced his first NFL game, on his birthday, watching his San Francisco 49ers win a game in Seattle. Over the past few years, Fred took an Alaskan cruise with his wife, Louise, daughter, Becky and son-in-law, Ward and a year later they all traveled through Western Canada, where he took in the majestic scenery. Fred is preceded in death by his father, James Andy Rowe; mother, Viola May Rowe (Burk); brothers Bert Rowe, Bobbie Rowe and John Rowe; sisters Irene Johnson and Jeraldine Farr; and Grandson, Brian Johnston. Fred is survived by his wife, Louise Rowe, brother, Jim Rowe; sister, Willene Rhodes; daughters  Rebecca Farrell (Ward) and Debbie Ammon (Jerry); son, Kenny Rowe; grandchildren, Jaime Ziebert (Lou), Katie Moe (Dawson), Eric Ammon (Ann) and Zackory Ammon; great grandchildren, Ashlynn, Parker, Natalie, Maxine & Charley Ziebert; Elena & Jackson Moe.         In lieu of flowers, the family asks you to put a worm on a hook and go fishing.                                               Fred would have wanted that.