Virginia Bowers Rowlett

Virginia Bowers Rowlett was born April 29, 1946, in Richmond, Virginia. She was known as “Ginny” to her friends and family, and “Ginny Leigh” to her parents. She attended Douglas Southall Freeman High School in Richmond and graduated from Longwood College in 1968 with a degree in education. On August 5, 1967, she married Russell Rowlett at Boulevard Methodist Chuch in Richmond, beginning a marriage that would last nearly fifty-nine years. The young couple first lived in Charlottesville, VA, where Russ was finishing his Ph.D. in mathematics, then moved to Arlington while Russ worked at the Pentagon, after being drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War. Ginny and Russ then moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where they had a son, Michael, in 1972.

Ginny worked as an educator, beginning her career teaching second grade at the Greenwood School outside Charlottesville. After the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1974, she taught special education, primarily through the Homebound Program, which provided in-person instruction for children who were unable to attend school for an extended period due to illness. The family moved to Durham, North Carolina, in 1987, and soon after, Ginny was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Although the disease made walking difficult for her, she continued to work and frequently enjoyed trips to the North Carolina beaches, to the mountains, and to visit her parents in Richmond.

Ginny was passionate about progressive causes and her convictions guided her throughout her life. Her first teaching assignment in the Knox County (TN) public schools was serving a program that allowed girls who had become pregnant to finish their high school degrees. After her MS diagnosis she worked at the National AIDS Hotline in Research Triangle Park, assisting those affected by the AIDS epidemic in finding services. She also loved the outdoors, frequently visiting the Smoky Mountains, and she was an avid photographer. She loved animals and doted on the cats that she had as pets.

Ginny passed away on June 20, 2026, at the UNC Health Hospice facility in Pittsboro, with her husband Russ and son Michael by her side. She is survived by Russ, Michael, and her grandchildren, Elizabeth, Evelyn and Peter.