Dale Lee Rowley, 95, of Vandalia, Illinois, entered into his eternal home on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Fayette County Long-term Care Facility in Vandalia.
A memorial service will be held on June 4, 2024, at Unity Baptist Church in Vandalia, with Rev. Joe Lawson officiating. Visitation will take place at 10:00 a.m., with the memorial service following at 11:00 a.m. Following the service, Dale’s ashes will be buried at the McInturff Cemetery in Hagerstown, Illinois, next to his beloved wife, Dena. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be contributed to Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Miller Funeral Home, Vandalia, IL, is in charge of arrangements. Online memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.millerfh.net.
Dale was born April 4, 1929, in Topeka, Kansas, to Carl Bryan and Christina (Haugh) Rowley. His brother, Bryan Jr., was almost 8 years older.
Dale’s early years in Topeka were the building blocks of the man he would later become. He spent hours engaged in “solitary and imaginative play” under a large maple tree in the yard. He learned to play violin as an 8-year-old. His mother taught him to cook when he was an adolescent. He enjoyed playing cribbage with his dad and rummy with his grandpa.
After Dale graduated high school in Topeka, he studied architectural engineering at Kansas State University. While there, he met a young man who he described as “wholesome,” and Dale soon learned that the Bible was the influence in this young man’s life that set him apart. After reading the book of Matthew, Dale knew Jesus had a claim in his own life.
After spending one year each at Kansas State and Washington University in Kansas City, studying architectural engineering, Dale surrendered to preach and transferred to Oklahoma Baptist University, in Shawnee, where he met the love of his life, Dena Cherry. Dale and Dena married in July 1953 in Berkeley, California.
Dale earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1953, a Bachelor of Divinity degree that was later converted to a master’s degree and a Master of Theology degree from Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Oakland, Calif., and Master of Science in Education from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. In 1958, after seminary, they spent four months in Topeka, where Dale completed clinical pastoral training at the Topeka State Hospital. Later that year they moved to Grand Tower, Illinois, where Dale pastored the Grand Tower Baptist Church. In 1962, the family moved to the Vandalia area, where he served as the protestant chaplain of the Vandalia Correctional Center for 25 years.
The Rowleys welcomed four children into their home. Deborah (Debbie) was born in California while Dale was attending seminary. The family moved to Grand Tower, where Daniel (Dan) and David were born. After the family moved to the Vandalia area, Dinah was born.
While not at work, he invested time in his family’s lives while gardening, raising livestock, fishing in the pond he had added to the farm, playing cribbage, and instilling in his children the love of travel. He was a skilled and creative craftsman in woodworking and photography. He had both a workshop and a photography darkroom in the basement of the family home, and he taught these skills to his children who were interested. He taught himself to play the organ as an adult and encouraged the musical, creative, and academic endeavors of his children.
Dale was a well-educated man, but he lived his life with a quiet humility, compassion, grace, and humor. His attitude when playing cribbage with his family was “If I win, I am a good player. If you win, I am a good teacher.” His attitude of searching for the “win-win” in life was evident even before that became a popular phrase.
After Dale retired from the correctional center and they became empty-nesters, Dale and Dena embarked on several international adventures where they taught English and enjoyed learning about the cultures and loving the people. These adventures included China, Thailand, Hawaii, and the Ivory Coast. The walls of their rural Vandalia home (until early 2020) were lined with photos of the family they loved and mementos of their travels. Dale also authored Cherry Blossoms, about his father-in-law Bert Isaac Cherry; Ecclesiastes: Down to Earth, with daily devotionals from the biblical book; The Christian Lifestyle: Paul’s Letter to the Philippians; and a manual for pastoral search committees. He also authored several inspirational articles that were published in Christian publications over the years.
Dale is survived by his son Dan (Donna) Rowley of Beltsville, Maryland; son David (Christine) Rowley of Surry, Virginia, daughter Dinah Jordan of Kissimmee, Florida, and son-in-law Joe (Joy) Lawson of Vandalia. He is survived by six grandchildren, in order of age: Christy (Doug) Forbes, Becky (Micah) Mosher, Tim Lawson, Daniel Rowley, Treva Rowley, and Josh (Kristin) Lawson. He is also survived by 12 great-grandchildren: Abigail, Anna, and Isaac Forbes; Josiah, Asher, Elijah, Mercy, and Eden Mosher; Eli, Emmanuel “Manny”, Eva, and Elaina Lawson. He will also be missed by the nieces, nephews, and cousins in the Rowley and Cherry families, as well as the Vandalia community.
Dale was preceded in death by his parents (C.B. Rowley in 1970 and Christina Rowley in 1986); brother, Bryan Jr. in 1988; wife, Dena Rowley in 2022; daughter, Debbie Lawson in 2004; and son-in-law, Gale Jordan in 2023.
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