Michael Rowe
May 19, 2020
Obituary
Michael (Mike) C. Rowe, 68, passed away at home on May 19, 2020 after a year-long battle with liver cancer. A Celebration of Life will be held sometime in the future. The Melby Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family. Memorials may be made to the UW Carbone Cancer Center or the Mercy One Dubuque Foundation Cancer Center. Online condolences may be made at www.melbyfh.com.
Mike was born in Minnesota to Herbert and Frances Rowe in 1952. He graduated from Hibbing High School in 1970 and went on to earn a BS summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1972. In 1974 and 1978 Mike earned an MS and PhD from the University of North Dakota in Physiological Psychology and Statistics. In 1983 Mike graduated with an MBA from Western Michigan University, and a PhD in 1997 from the University of North Texas in Computer Science.
Mike worked at many companies throughout his career. These included Quatra Research, Texas Instruments, Upjohn Pharmaceuticals, Merit Technologies, IBM, USDATA, Westwave Communications, Avista, and UW-Platteville. These companies provided a wide variety of experiences and responsibilities with positions as Director of Computational Services, Member of the Group Technical Staff, System Architect, Systems Engineer, Senior Scientist, Program Manager, Principal Engineer, Professor, and Professor Emeritus. Mike worked on developing autonomous satellites, some of the first large military drones, avionics for commercial and military aircraft, high performance computing platforms for military applications, and member of the system architect team for a multibillion-dollar armored vehicle.
Mike married Susie Fitzpatrick in 1977. They enjoyed living and traveling to various parts of the country. Mike enjoyed coaching his twin boys in baseball and loved cheering them on at cross country and track meets. Mike loved nature, the outdoors, and was an avid bird watcher.
Mike is survived by his wife Susie of 42 years; his sons, Scottie Rowe, Charlie (Cassie) Rowe, his mother, Frances Rowe, his sisters-in-law Christel Rowe, Terry (Robert) Mejillas, Jane (Joel) Schock, Amy Fitzpatrick, his brother-in-law Jim Fitzpatrick, and many wonderful and loving nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father Herbert Rowe and brother Jonathan Rowe.