Ruth Ann Popa Rowe

Ruth Ann Popa Rowe, age 65 of Austin, TX formerly of Houston, TX passed away Thursday, October 4, 2007 at Hospice Austin Christopher House. Ruth was born June 17, 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was in the first graduating class of Oak Creek High School in Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. At age 20, she moved from Wisconsin to Cocoa Beach, Fla., to work for A. C. Sparkplug in Cape Canaveral. There she met Lawrence Rowe, an electrical engineer in the space program; they married in 1963. Twelve years later, they moved with their six children to Houston when Lawrence transferred to Johnson Space Center with McDonnell Douglas. Ruth gave flute lessons and became a seamstress of formal wear. After Lawrence’s death, Ruth moved to Austin, where she worked from home under the name Sew Original and relished her new role as a grandmother. By the end of her career, she had created gowns for some 800 brides. In Austin, Ruth met her closest friends as a docent for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and member of the Austin Area Quilt Guild, the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists and a neighborhood book club. She was a founding member of the Fiber Artists Bee. She drew strength from her nine beloved “Sister Friends”. She loved to study nature, work in her garden, travel and create beautiful quilts, rugs, and fiber art pieces. Ruth lived for her family and was an extraordinary mother and grandmother. Her children and extended family cherished her. Her kindness and generosity were limitless, and her sweet optimism did not flag through her illness. Five days before her death, Ruth met her newest grandson Lucas and witnessed the wedding of her youngest daughter, Suzanne, at Christopher House hospice. She was a member of St. Paul Catholic Church in Nassau Bay, Texas, and St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Austin, TX. Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, Edmund John Popa and Naomi Catherine Klees Popa; and husband, Lawrence Martin Rowe. Ruth is survived by her daughters, Victoria (husband Joseph) Husband of Austin, Karen (husband Kenneth) Flaherty of Austin, Patricia (husband Bill) Bordelon of San Antonio, Cynthia (husband Scott) Smith of San Diego, California, Suzanne (husband Daniel) Bennett of Austin, and son Lawrence of Austin. She is also survived by brothers Thomas (wife Myrna) Popa, and Warren (wife Mary Donovan) Popa, sisters Rosemary (husband Nick) Icossipentarhos, Kathryn Popa (husband Jeff Amann), and Mary Jean (husband Jim) Siegel and grandchildren Taylor, Ryan and Finn Flaherty; Brigitte and Lucas Bordelon; Addison and Michael Smith; and Erin Husband. The family will receive friends from 4:00 to 7:00 PM Monday, October 8, 2007 at Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home with a Prayer Service following at 7:00 PM. Burial will be 3:00 PM Tuesday at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Dickinson, Texas. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice Austin or Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Memorials and guestbook online at wcfish.com