IRVINGTON––William Raleigh “Billy” Rowe Jr., 93, of Irvington passed away January 2, 2018.
Mr. Rowe was a longtime director of Northern Neck Mutual Insurance Company and president of Tri-State Agency Corp.
Born August 23, 1924, he was a lifelong resident of Irvington where he was the fourth generation of his family to reside on Rowe’s Point on Carter Creek.
He enlisted in the Navy immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served in the Pacific Theater on the USS Alcor destroyer repair ship and was honorably discharged at the end of the war.
He was an avid hunter and fisherman, both locally and during travels in the U. S. and abroad.
In 1965, he donated his former family home place on Steamboat Road in Irvington as the site of Chesapeake Academy, and the property is now known as the school’s Rowe Campus.
Mr. Rowe was the senior member of Irvington Baptist Church and also attended All Saints Anglican Church in Saluda.
He was predeceased by his parents, William R. Rowe Sr. and Mary Seward Rowe.
As an only child, he considered his lifelong friend, the late C. Jackson Simmons of Irvington, a brother. He leaves behind his “adopted” family, Frances Chase Simmons of Irvington; J. Rawleigh and Susan Simmons and their children, Chas Faulkner and Emory Simmons of Wicomico Church; Sarah L. Simmons of Atlanta, Ga., and her son, Spencer Nicholson of Irvington.
He also is survived by cousins Elliott Brooke Harwood of Chestertown, Md.; Keith Hammond Harwood of Seattle, Wash.; Cary Harwood Koontz of Pensacola, Fla.; Anne Harwood Hill of Seattle, Wash.; William Lee Howard of Fairfax; Laura Howard Mayer of Mosley; Becky Daniel of Boyds; Pam Olliges of Monrovia, Md.; and Anita Humphreys Cook of Weems.
A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, January 11, at Irvington Baptist Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery. A visitation will be held at the church beginning one hour prior to the service.
Memorial donations may be made to Irvington Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, P. O. Box 417, Irvington, VA 22480 or Chesapeake Academy, C. Jackson Simmons Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 8, Irvington, VA 22480.
Currie Funeral Home LLC of Kilmarnock is handling the arrangements.
