Frances Rowland

Frances Rowland of Cleveland, Tennessee passed away Sunday, October 8, 2006. She was 87. Born in Walnut Grove, Missouri, Frances and her family moved to Bisbee, Arizona, when she was only eight years old. She lived there for the next sixty years. She was a charter member of the first Church of God in Arizona and served faithfully for decades as a member pf the Ladies Willing Worker Band. She worked in food services at Phelps Dodge Corporation for 26 years, retiring in 1984 as the manager of the corporate guesthouse in Morenci, Arizona. Frances moved to Cleveland following the birth of her granddaughter Sara Dirksen. She lived with her daughter, Carolyn Dirksen, and her family for the next twenty years. She loved reading, gardening and puzzles. She helped every year to make the famous Halloween on Centenary Avenue a great success. She baked homemade pastries and cakes for new Lee faculty members almost every week. She had a smile and a positive word ready for anyone who crossed her path. She was a member of the Westmore Church of God. Mrs. Rowland was the daughter of the late Jeffery and Mamie Edmonson Poindexter and was also preceded in death by her husband, Francis Elton Rowland and a brother, Travis Poindexter. Frances is survived by her daughter Twila Chambers of Phoenix, Arizona, daughter, Carolyn Dirksen and husband, Murl, and their daughter Sara of Cleveland, Tennessee; and by daughter Judy Rowland, also of Cleveland, Tennessee; grandchildren: Stephanie Thomson, Stacey Stewart and Ryan Chambers; one great-grandchild, Raylin Chambers; two nephews: Thomas Poindexter of California and Jeffery Poindexter of Oregon. A memorial service will be conducted at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday at Westmore Church of God with Dr. Paul Conn officiating. Honorary pallbearers will be Ryan Chambers, Richard Stewart, Brendan Thomson and Phil Barber. Her family will receive friends from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday at Ralph Buckner Funeral Home.