soul

of blessed memory

A Proud Humanist With A Social Conscience

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

F

or National Council of Jewish
Women (NCJW) in December
1974, Beatrice “Bea” Rowe coor-
dinated a dinner to commemorate
the anniversary of the signing of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
adopted by the United Nations in 1948.
“We really have to take this document
and put it to work,” Bea said prior to the
event.
A proud humanist with a social con-
science learned from her parents, Anne
and Edward, Bea never stopped trying
to make the world a better place. Along
the way, she became a role model and
trusted sounding board for her beloved
children, grandchildren and others who
knew her.
“She gave her life remarkable
meaning,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Falick of
Birmingham Temple in Farmington
Hills, eulogizing Bea Rowe, 89, his con-
gregant and friend. The West Bloomfield
resident lost her fight with cancer on
April 11, 2017.
Dr. Debra Rowe said her mother was
“a change agent who could think in
terms of systems.” Bea analyzed the suf-
fering in society and formed committees
to do what needed to be done.
She brought people together to listen
to each other and facilitate solutions “to
the core problems, instead of just the
symptoms.”
Among Bea’s many accomplish-
ments, she helped create a food pro-
gram for women and children at the
Detroit-based Focus: Hope organization,
arranged interfaith activities to combat
prejudice, established a parenting center
in Pontiac, and strongly advocated for
Planned Parenthood, women’s and voter
rights as well as other social and politi-
cal causes.
Bea provided leadership to Metro
Detroit’s Jewish Community Council

(now JCRC/AJC) and
Jewish Federation.
She became a second-
generation activist
in NCJW’s Greater
Detroit Section, serv-
ing as vice president.
She was involved with
advocacy for Detroit
Public Schools and
Orchards Children’s
Services until the end
of her life.
Born Dec. 14, 1927,
in Akron, Ohio, Bea
Kahn and her future
husband, Seymour
Beatrice Rowe
Rowe, met at Central
High School in
Detroit. Both gradu-
ated from Wayne State University, where
Bea earned a BFA degree and had an
early career as an art teacher at Detroit
Public Schools. Seymour was a worker’s
compensation attorney. Their marriage
lasted 62 years, until Seymour’s passing
in 2011.
“They were always there for their
loved ones and each other,” Falick said
of the Rowes. “They were united in love
and caring about the world around
them.”
The Rowes raised their children in
Southfield; they attended the Jewish
Parents Institute for Sunday school.
Among other volunteer experiences,
in 1973, Bea testified on behalf of the
Jewish Community Council at a federal
hearing held by the equal opportuni-
ties subcommittee of the U.S. House
Committee on Education and Labor. For
the Council-sponsored radio series If Not
Now, When on WDET-FM, she co-hosted
a program in 1976 called “Coping: Jewish
Women Today and Volunteerism.”
Bea took a paying job with Oakland

Family Services in the
1980s, directing a peri-
natal coaching program
for at-risk families.
In her eulogy, Dr.
Marla Rowe Gorosh
mentioned the time
her mother took a bus-
load of moms receiving
welfare to Lansing to
discuss flaws in the pro-
gram.
“It was on the 6
o’clock news,” Marla
said. “I recall [Mom] had
her umbrella stuck in
the door so she could
get in to speak to the
governor. I don’t even
think it was raining.”
Granddaughter Amanda Brown said
she learned that “Queen Bea” (as she
liked to call her) “once had a chance to
run for a seat in Congress, which she
declined to pursue other opportunities.”

FAMILY TIME
Time together was a priority for the
Rowes. Every other weekend, the fam-
ily ventured Up North to their A-frame
cabin in Walloon. Bea loved the outdoors
and nature.
The Rowe children received musical
educations and sometimes fell asleep at
night to the sound of their mother play-
ing piano. She was a painter and sculptor
and enjoyed ballet, opera and cooking.
The Rowes settled into a winter com-
munity in Delray Beach, Fla., in the
mid-’80s. Bea engaged her friends in
supporting a clinic dedicated to provid-
ing migrant workers and local Haitians
access to healthcare.
Friendships were deeply important to
Bea. She was known for providing great
hospitality, arranging adventures, and

helping people recognize and achieve
their full potential.
Bea was most proud of her family. Her
legacy is that each of her children —and
now grandchildren — appears to have
inherited Bea and Seymour’s values and
are engaging in social change.
Amanda, who has joined the Planned
Parenthood board, said, “I have so much
more work to do to follow in [Bea’s] foot-
prints.
“She understood that making the
world a better place cannot be achieved
in the course of one lifetime alone — so
she left the continuing task to all whom
she touched, and above all to her family.”
Beatrice Rowe is survived by her
daughters and sons-in-law, Dr. Marla
Rowe Gorosh and Neil Gorosh, Dr. Debra
Rowe and Dennis Bartleman; son and
daughter-in-law, Steven and Lynn Rowe;
grandchildren, Dr. Loren and Nathalia
Gorosh, Alex Gorosh and Marisa Rico
Gorosh, Amanda and Max Brown, Lilah
Clevey, Ethan Rowe, Adam Rowe and
Emma Rowe; sister-in-law, Marcia Kahn;
loving stepgrandchildren, stepgreat-
grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins
and dear friends.
She was the beloved wife of the late
Seymour Rowe; the loving sister of the
late A. David Kahn; the dear sister-in-law
of the late Arnold Sukrow and the late
May Berkley.
Interment was at Beth El Memorial
Park. Contributions may be made to
Orchards Children’s Services, 24901
Northwestern Hwy., Suite 500, Southfield,
MI 48075, www.orchards.org; United Way
for Southeastern Michigan, for advocacy,
660 Woodward, Suite 300, Detroit, MI
48226, donate.liveunitedsem.org/page/
contribute/beatrice-rowe-in-memoriam-
donation-page; or to a charity of one’s
choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel. •

continued on page 60

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