By KIE RELYEA — THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Picked as 2012 Washington History Teacher of the Year

She obtained her teachers certification at Albion State Normal School in Idaho in 1938, and later in life graduated from Western Washington State College, and also attended Brigham Young University. While teaching elementary school in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho she met Delos Allen Rowe and they married on July 22, 1941, in the Logan Utah LDS Temple. After living in Oakland, California for two years they moved to Bellingham, Washing- ton, where they raised their family, raised turkeys and chickens, and served faithfully in the Bellingham Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She returned to teaching again after the death of their youngest child, Lorette. She taught elementary and middle school in Pocatello and Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, and in Bellingham, Wash- ington. She loved teach- ing, counseling, teaching art, coaching the then noted Meridian Drill Team, and being a librarian in Meridian School District for many years. She cared for her students individually. After retiring from teach- ing in 1976 she spent the next twenty years caring for and traveling with Delos, doing artwork, genealogy, temple work, and sharing his love for horses and golf. She had a passion for doing and teaching genealogy and with Delos traveled the country doing research. They served together for many years in the Mesa Arizona, Seattle Washing- ton, and London England LDS Temples. Her child- ren and grandchildren were her daily joy follow- ing Delos’s passing in 1991.
She is preceded in death by her husband Delos, her daughter Lorette, one granddaughter Trenna, and two great grand- daughters Autumn, and Amberlyn, as well as three brothers, Marvin, Joe, and Chuck Pratt, and two sisters Audrey Jones and Mildred Sandvik Poulsen. She will be greatly missed by her children and their spouses: Bruce and Sandra Tomila Rowe, Boise, Idaho; Mark and Paula Taylor Rowe, Orem, Utah, currently in New Zealand serving an LDS mission; Deanne and Bob Johnson, St. Louis, Missouri; and Glenn and Melody Carr Rowe, South Jordan, Utah; 34 grandchildren; 81 great grandchildren; and her brother Wally Pratt and sister Jean Poulsen. We are sure that her advice to those of us she has left behind would be, “family is everything” “I guess you’ll just have to pray a lot” and “carry on, carry on, carry on!”
What a glorious reunion she is surely having with Dad (Dos) and Lorette, and all those other Rau’s, Bailey’s, and Pratt’s she grew to know and love so personally through her genealogical research and who surely love her for keeping their stories alive in the hearts of their descendants. With her memory now clearly restored, imagine what stories she is telling all of them about her adven- tures here with us in this life. We have so much missed being able to tap into those wonderful memories here during these past many years, but will never forget hearing all the poems and piano tunes that seemed to stay in her memory: “Home again, home again, dancing a jig” “The lady in Red” “I’m a nobody, are you a nobody too?” “And here we have Idaho” “What did Ida hoe my boys” “March Militaire” and all the LDS Hymns! We miss you mom, but promise we will keep the stories, songs, and poems alive from generation to generation. We will not break the link of faith.
A special thanks to Paula, Deanne and Bob, Melody, and Sandy for their patient and loving attentiveness to mom during the last fifteen years and to St. Antho- ny’s Hospice in St. Louis, especially Krissy and Lisa. Funeral services will be held Friday, April 20th, at 1:00 p.m. in the Ferndale Second Ward, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5800 Northwest Drive, Ferndale, WA. under the direction of Safe Harbor Funeral Services. A time of visitation will be held at the church for friends and family from 12:00pm to 12:45pm prior to the service. Graveside serv- ices will be held at Greenacres Memorial Park following the church service. Dona- tions may be made to the Perpetual Education Fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (http://pef.lds.org) Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to
Safe Harbor Funeral Service 360-201-9860

Read more here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bellinghamherald/obituary.aspx?n=mary-alice-pratt-rowe&pid=157096583#storylink=cpy

“He understands rural school districts like Meridian. I think he’s going to extend the good work done at Meridian,” Evans added.

Churchill beat out David Forsythe for the superintendent post. Forsythe is executive director of teaching and learning for Meridian School District and former principal for Ten Mile Creek Elementary School in the district.

“I feel honored to be selected. I look forward to building relationships with the people in Meridian. We’re in a people business so it’s all about relationships,” said Churchill, who also is principal in the Hood Canal School District.

He said he looked forward to being part of Meridian’s leadership team – comprised of core administrators, principals, assistant principals and department leaders in the school district – and working with the school board.

Churchill, 49, praised the work that Yeomans has done.

“Tim will be a hard act to follow,” he said, adding that Yeomans “is a pretty dynamic guy” and that there were many good things in place in Meridian because of his leadership.

Meridian School District has about 2,100 students, and Yeomans has been its superintendent since July 2007.

As for his plans for Meridian, Churchill said that will be guided by a transition plan being put together by Yeomans and the school board.

“They’re in the middle of some pretty major construction projects, so that will obviously be a high priority,” Churchill said. “I need to get to know the leadership team and the work that’s being done there and to get up to speed. My highest priority will be building relationships with folks in Meridian.”

Churchill also has previous experience as a superintendent when he served in that capacity in the Entiat School District from 2002 to 2004.

Although he’s coming from a smaller school district – with a $4.6 million budget compared to Meridian’s $17.5 million – Churchill said he will be able to hit the ground running because the responsibilities of state reporting and budgeting are the same for all school districts in Washington state.

“We all have the same responsibilities to the state and federal government and local taxpayers no matter the size of your school district,” he said.

Churchill also was a finalist for superintendent of the nearly 2,000-student Mount Baker School District, but the Mount Baker school board last week picked Charlie Burleigh, principal of Kendall Elementary School, to be the new superintendent.

Churchill said he was interested in coming to Whatcom County as a step up in his career and also because he had two grown sons in Bellingham.

“We spent a lot of time, my wife Patty and I, in Bellingham visiting our sons,” he said, adding that one son has moved to L.A. to try to make it as an actor.

The Puyallup School District board hired Yeomans for the Puyallup superintendent job on March 6. That district has about 21,100 students.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/03/28/2458120/hood-canal-schools-superintendent.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy