Ellen Homer Rowan

Ellen Homer Rowan, whose self-declared hobby was helping people, died on May 30, 2021, after a year-long struggle with bile duct cancer. She passed away at her home while surrounded by her husband and family. She was 69 years old.

Ellen Louise Homer was born on June 22, 1951, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Karl Theurer and Marjorie Bybee Homer. She was the third of six children (John, Margaret, Elizabeth, Karla, and Barbara). Ellen grew up ice skating on ponds, swimming in her backyard pool, competing in rodeos (often on her favorite horse, Peppy Red Wing), sewing everything from clothes to curtains, singing in everything from sextets to school choirs, canoeing on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, and snowmobiling in the mountains near her family's cabin in Island Park, Idaho. Although most would never imagine her as anything other than kind, Ellen described herself as a "snotty brat" when she was young. While in 7th grade, she decided that she was tired of being mean and desperately wanted friends. Determined to change, she spent her lunch hours walking around the block near her middle school and practicing being nice to people she encountered. She would then return to school and apply what she had practiced on her lunchtime walks in her interactions with her classmates. Initially surprised by her kindness, her classmates soon started sitting next to her on the bus and seeking out her friendship. She has been the best kind of friend since then.

Ellen attended Brigham Young University, where she deepened her love for singing and performing with the Young Ambassadors alongside her older brother John—an experience that no doubt shaped her trademark characteristic of breaking into song multiple times each day. Ellen had a song for every occasion. Studying abroad in Austria was a transformative experience, seeding her lifelong love of travel. During her final semester at BYU, she started dating Creed Rowan; most of their dates consisted of walking and talking, an activity of which they never tired. After graduating, they married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 14, 1974, and moved to St. Louis, where Ellen worked as a nutritionist for the Dairy Council and Creed attended dental school at Washington University.

Ellen and Creed settled in Merced, California in 1977 and raised their five children there. During her 44 years in the Central Valley, Ellen dedicated her life to serving the Lord by serving others. Having spent much of her childhood feeling alone, she was especially relentless in her efforts to pull those on the margins into the center. But Ellen connected with everyone she met. Her ministry of inclusion cut across generations, denominations, occupations, and nations. She frequently invited others to accompany her on long walks and then nudged them to keep up with her brisk pace while responding to her soul-searching questions. She strategically put together singing groups as a way to connect different women to each other—singing was the means to a more important end. She regularly hosted luncheons for her widowed friends and even more frequently visited those who were homebound. She cared for her aging mother, who had dementia, and worked in the Fresno LDS Temple with her husband and father-in-law every week for several years. Ellen didn't ask others to let her know if they needed help—she just showed up and got to work. She washed windows. She pulled weeds. She painted walls. She sat and listened to people in pain. And she rejoiced, really rejoiced, in others' good news—there was no one better with whom to share good news than Ellen. She lived by the mantra that the best way to get over feeling sorry for yourself is to count your blessings and focus on the needs of other people, which is exactly what she did until taking her last breath.

The 18-month mission that Ellen and Creed served in Malawi from 2018-2020 as representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints not only fulfilled a lifelong dream but also extended Ellen's ministry to a different part of the world. She served her new friends in the same selfless way that she had served others her whole life: she delivered aid to communities throughout Malawi; she sought out families in their homes to read the scriptures with them, often hiking up hills or driving through townships to get there; and she worked with teenagers and young adults to help them better understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and develop both life and leadership skills. One of the Malawian church leaders with whom Ellen worked referred to her as Sister Relentless because of her persistence in serving and loving the people in Malawi.

Ellen served her family just as tirelessly as she served others. She found her deepest joy in her relationships with her husband, children, their spouses, and grandchildren. She prioritized experiences with her family above personal possessions, spending as much time as she could with her family in the places that she loved most. And there was no place she loved more than her yard, which she and Creed transformed from a horse pasture into a kids' paradise that featured a baseball diamond (with stadium lights!), go-kart track, pool, basketball court, fruit orchard, fire pit, and towering redwood trees. Ellen loved playing board and card games, especially with her grandchildren; even though she often bent the rules to help others win, she had an uncanny ability to come out on top. She wanted her home to be a place where her children, their friends, and her grandchildren would want to spend time. And it was. But her home was not just where she played; it was also where she taught her children and grandchildren to work hard by working alongside them—whether that meant waking up in the early mornings to roll newspapers for paper routes, weeding in the garden and flower beds, or sanding and repainting the pool fence. Most importantly, Ellen worked hard alongside Creed to teach their children and grandchildren how to pray to God, exercise faith in Jesus Christ, and repent daily. She taught her family that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to transform lives primarily through her own transformed and Christlike life.

Ellen is survived by Robert Creed Rowan, her husband of nearly 47 years; her children Jamin Creed Rowan (Ann), Robert Chad Rowan (Christy), Rebecca Ellen Theurer (Derek), Rachael Rowan Rushton (Tyler), and Spencer Karl Rowan (Chloe); and 19 grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents.

The funeral service will take place on Saturday, June 5, 2021, at 10:00 am at the Merced LDS Stake Center (1080 E Yosemite Ave., Merced, CA 95340). There will be a public viewing at the same location preceding the funeral service from 8:30 - 9:30. Creed would like to invite friends who wish to honor Ellen's life through a contribution to consider donating to the Ellen Rowan Malawi Education Fund (https://gofund.me/f31ee6ff), which will be used to provide young people in Malawi with greater access to educational and professional programs, or to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' Humanitarian Aid Fund (https://donate.churchofjesuschrist.org/donations/church/humanitarian-services/humanitarian-aid-fund.html).

Memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.stratfordevansfunerals.com for the Rowan family.