Chad Arnold Rowe

Chad Arnold Rowe was born to Levon and Opal Rowe on November 11, 1942 in Rexburg, Idaho. He grew up on a small family farm that was nestled beneath the Rexburg foothills in an area called Lyman. Everyone worked together on the farm and Chad learned the important value of work surrounded by his parents and his brothers Jerry, Larry, and Kent, and sisters Shirley and Joanne. He would wake up every day and say “Dad, what are we going to do today?” That bond of work and family was a value that directed Chad’s life. With that said, however, Chad did not love farm work. He said his worst chore was a job called tromping hay. The Rowes did not bale their hay for several years and so it was thrown loosely onto the wagon bed and someone would have to tromp it down so they could get more onto the wagon. It was a hot, dusty, exhausting job. Chad was happy when they started to bale their hay and he could graduate to bucking hay bales onto the hay wagon. The Rowes also depended on a small dairy herd. Cows must be milked and cared for every day. He said it was not a lot of fun early in the morning to be milking a cow and have its tail, along with some manure, swat him in the face.

Chad’s education started in the first grade at the Washington School in Rexburg, Idaho. He and his siblings walked down the lane and caught the school bus. Because of the growth of population after WWII he found himself transferred to several schools as he grew up. He graduated from Madison High School, attended Ricks College, and then graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelors in business management.

Chad’s education was interrupted briefly as he chose to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was assigned to the Southern States Mission. He said that teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and learning the discipline of serving a mission instilled lifelong values which influenced his choices every day.

Chad met Kathy Handly the first week that he began to attend BYU. They both had roommates who were cousins and so that brought Chad and Kathy together often. They were engaged the following February and married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 8, 1967. They started their married lives in the married students housing called Wymount Terrace at BYU. When Chad graduated in 1968, he was hired as a salesman for Hunt Wesson Foods. This began a long career in sales which he dearly loved.

Chad said his love for sales began the day that his brother Larry started selling Cutco knives and he realized that you could influence the amount of money that you made by how hard you worked. Chad loved sales, meeting quotas, winning sales contests and working with and training others in the Hunt Wesson sales force. Hunt Wesson was eventually acquired by Con Agra Foods. It was about this time that Chad began to call on a retailer that was really beginning to grow—Walmart. He convinced his company that they needed to change their shipping to ship directly to Walmart distribution centers…a move which blessed him and Conagra then and now. He loved calling on Walmart and getting to know the buyers and even its current CEO. The family loved that he would bring home products like Orville Redenbacher popcorn, Peter Pan peanut butter, Swiss Miss and Snack Pack pudding to name just a few. The kids also got to occasionally travel with him to candy shows and run up and down the isles sampling new candy products. Chad was eventually calling on only Walmart as a National Accounts manager and retired in 2005 in that position. Chad was unusually talented and successful in sales in part because he loved it and in part because he was strictly honest. His buyers and sales associates knew this and he gained their loyalty and trust. His adherence to Christian principles brought blessings throughout his entire sales career and community service.

While Chad traveled a great deal in his career, his wife Kathy kept the home fires burning and kept eight active kids in tow. The children, Matt, Steve, Jeff, Amanda, Becky, Spencer, Carrie and Katie, however, always remember their Dad coming home from a business trip and heading straight from the airport to watch them participate in a game or school program. He was a caring father and was so proud of every accomplishment his children made. He supported them in their church activities, sports, and educational pursuits. He was so proud to see them serve missions, graduate from college, marry and give him 24 wonderful grandchildren. His family was the most important thing in his life and knowing that he would be with them forever was paramount.

Chad was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and readily accepted any calling extended to him. He was able to serve as a home teacher, missionary, teacher, seventy, high councilor and Bishop of the Hickory Hills ward. He enjoyed serving as a temple worker in the Kansas City Missouri temple and was hoping to be able to recover enough to go back and serve there again. He loved missionary work and had a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His plan for His children.

Chad was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in 2006. He underwent chemotherapy and then a bone marrow transplant that following year at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He lived with this condition, as well as a failing heart and kidneys for the next 15 years. He was blessed to be cared for by amazing doctors and nurses. He was most grateful to those who devoted their lives to the medical profession. With them and God’s blessings, he was able to continue to enjoy his family, give community service as a Councilman for the City of Merriam, Kansas, serve as a senior missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and even enjoy a vacation or two in Yellowstone Park or Branson. One of the last things he did was to watch his favorite John Wayne movie, McClintock. He continued to love classic cars and owned a 1960 baby blue T-bird and then a red 1960 T-bird. Red was his favorite color for cars and just about anything else. He loved serving on the Merriam Classic Car Show committee and hated missing it this year. He always said that he would like to be buried in a 1960 T-bird.

It is impossible to sum up a life of 78 years in a page or two, but we will end up quoting a few of his favorite sayings: “Save your money. Money over time always equals money no matter how you slice it.” “Serve a mission. It will bless your life every day.” “Honesty is always the best policy.” “It’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.” “I’ve got a dollar for anyone who can find my glasses.” “The 1960 Ford Thunderbird was the most beautiful car ever built.”

Chad was a fighter, and it was with grace and dignity that he realized that it was finally time for him to look forward to meeting his Heavenly Father and other family members on the other side of the veil. On September 15, 2021, he made the decision to enter the hospice program and come home to be with his family. The Lord took him quickly on September 21, surrounded by family. He will be loved and missed, but he looked forward to meeting his Savior and hearing the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

Events

Funeral Ceremony

Start Date: September 27, 2021, 11:00 am
End Date: September 27, 2021, 12:00 am
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
7100 Hadley Street
Overland Park, KS 66204

Visitation

Start Date: September 26, 2021, 5:00 pm
End Date: September 26, 2021, 7:00 pm
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
7100 Hadley Street
Overland Park, KS 66204

Visitation

Start Date: September 27, 2021, 9:30 am
End Date: September 27, 2021, 10:30 am
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
7100 Hadley Street
Overland Park, KS 66204

Final Resting Place

Sutton Cemetery
841 Sutton Cemetery Rd.
Archer, ID 83440