Obituary of Rosalie J. Mow

Rosalie Stearns Johnson Mow passed away peacefully on March 6, 2022 at The Fairfax, Ft Belvoir, VA. She was 92 years old.

Rosalie was born on August 21 1929 in Denver, Colorado to parents John and Rosalie Johnson and raised in an Army Cavalry family with an older brother, John III, and a younger sister, Joyce. After a 40-year career in the Army, her father retired to Glenwood Springs, Colorado with his family in 1946 and Rosalie graduated from Garfield County High School the following year. She went on to attend and graduate from Colorado College in 1951, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She married Ensign Douglas Farris Mow, a young Naval Academy graduate from nearby Carbondale, Colorado that same year and went on to have and raise four children with him. Rosalie supported her husband’s 30-year career as a naval aviator through the long Vietnam War years and numerous carrier deployments and naval assignments around the country, but made time to pursue her own education (MA in Education, Fresno State University) and career as a Reading Specialist and teacher.

Rosalie lived in Mt. Vernon, Virginia for 34 years. She worked for over 20 years in the Alexandria School System, administering reading programs that nurtured students into successful readers. Following the death of her husband of 47 years, Rear Admiral Douglas Farris Mow, in 1998, Rosalie remained in their Mt Vernon home for another ten years before moving to The Fairfax in Ft Belvoir where she resided for 14 years.

Rosalie was an avid reader and book club participant, a truly dedicated teacher, a life-long learner, a sometime bowler and golfer, a lover of the Arts, an ardent follower of current events, a ready traveler, and a doting grandmother. An active member of her community, she was a member of St James Episcopal Church for over 45 years, was a lifetime member of the Society of the Lees of Virginia, a Colonial Dame and member of the Army Navy Club.

Rosalie is survived by her four children: LTC Douglas Farris Mow Jr (Jacqueline) of Syria, VA, Deborah Mow Mainwaring (John) of Dothan, AL, Laura Mow Luther (Dale) of Sarasota, FL and Nancy Mow Sherick (Dean) of Ophelia, VA; three grandchildren: CPT Brian Paul Mainwaring (Melinda) of Mobile, AL, MAJ Todd Allen Mainwaring (Darcy) of Freeport, FL, and MAJ Jeffrey Douglas Mainwaring (Jennifer) of Cary, NC; and seven great grandchildren: Charlie, Cooper, Calvin, Emery, Merritt, Jones, and Brynn (all Mainwarings). She is also survived by her sister, Joyce Schneider of St Petersburg, FL, four nieces and two nephews.

A funeral service will be held at St James Episcopal Church in Mt Vernon, Virginia at 11AM on April 19, 2022.

A graveside burial service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.