James Pearlie “J.P.” Rowe, 85, of Ocilla died Friday, March 13, 2015 at Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, Georgia.
Funeral Services will be held 11 AM, Monday, March 16, 2015 at Pinetta Baptist Church in the Pinetta Community of Irwin County with the Rev. John Gibbs officiating, and David Hilliard giving the eulogy. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Mr. Rowe was born February 21, 1930 in Berrien county to the late Pearlie Patrick and Lee Merchant Rowe. He served in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict, where he was a point man and a Body Guard for General James Van Fleet. He was a graduate of the University of Georgia with B.S.A. and M.S. degrees in Agronomy and Soil Chemistry. He was an Associate Professor Emeritus at ABAC, where he taught for 32 years retiring in 1991. At ABAC he was honored with the Carlton Award for Teaching Excellence and served as interim division chairman in the Division of Science, Mathematics and Nursing in 1986. He was a farmer and attended Pinetta Baptist church in the Pinetta Community of Irwin County.
Survivors include his children: Linda R. Hilliard and husband David of Tifton, Bobby Rowe and wife Carole Anne of Ocilla and Mary Lee R. McDaniel and husband Ferris of Woodstock; eight grandchildren: Kathleen Hilliard, Anne Lee Hilliard, Chandler Rowe, Landon Rowe, Isabella Rowe, Harrison McDaniel, Luke McDaniel and Jake McDaniel. Mr. Rowe was preceded in death by his parents: wife of fifty years, Jewell Parrish Rowe; and a twin brother, J. C. Rowe.