Dr. Carl H. Rowley

Dr. Carl H. Rowley of Bettendorf, Iowa died on Wednesday, August 9, 2023 following a recent illness. He lived a full and happy life of 91 years.

Services will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, August 18, 2023 at Weerts Funeral Home in Davenport, Iowa, with visitation beginning at 10:00 AM. Burial at Oakdale Memorial Gardens will immediately follow the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Bettendorf Public Library.

Carl was born on October 7, 1931 in Melcher, Iowa, to Paul David and Elma Olive (Schulze) Rowley. He was the third born in a family of nine children. After several years, the family moved to Panora, and then in 1935, to Guthrie Center, Iowa, where Carl attended school until graduation. Carl attended Iowa State College, graduating with a B.S. degree in Horticulture in 1954. He then worked as a plant hybridizer for a large nursery in Oregon.

Returning to academia, Carl graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the College of Dentistry at the University of Iowa in 1965. He then practiced dentistry with his brother, Dr. Neil Rowley, in Iowa Falls, Iowa. In 1969, he joined Jersey Ridge Dental Associates in Davenport, practicing there and at their satellite office in Durant, Iowa. Carl married the love of his life, Doerle Nell McRill, on June 10, 1972 in Topeka, Kansas. He later practiced in the Durant office full time until his retirement in 2000.

Carl was involved in numerous dental organizations, serving as president of the five-county Davenport District Dental Society and the Scott County Dental Society. He served five terms as the state chairman of the Dental Ethics Committee within the Iowa Dental Association, six terms as chairman of the Peer Review Committee within the Davenport District Dental Society, and had also chaired the Iowa-Illinois Dental Meeting. Carl was installed as a life member of the Iowa Dental Association and was a member of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, an international honor dental organization.

In his spare time, Carl was an avid reader, a lover of bluegrass music, enjoyed watching football and basketball, and had a special place in his heart for lemon meringue pie.

Carl is survived by his devoted wife of 51 years, Doerle; daughter Heather Ann Rowley of Townsend, Massachusetts; siblings Marji Arvin of Lafayette, Indiana, Mary Rowley of Eatonton, Georgia, Mildred Chackerian of Los Altos, California, and Dr. Thomas Rowley of Hoquiam, Washington; and many nieces and nephews.