Date of death: 2/19/2022
Saint Meinrad Class: O 1962
Don Karl Rowney, a Professor of History at Bowling Green State University for 47 years, died Saturday, February 19, 2022, in hospice. The son of Roy and Marguerite (Chamberlain) Rowney, Don was born in Kokomo, Indiana, on November 15, 1936. Don graduated from Kokomo High School, St. Meinrad Seminary, and Indiana University, where he received his bachelor’s master’s and doctorate degrees.
A mainstay of the BGSU history department, Don ushered in the age of computing with new understandings of quantitative history and, later in his career, he founded the Graduate Program in Policy History. He contributed to his field of Russian History through his publications on Russian bureaucracy, through love of teaching, and through co-founding the International Council for Central, East European and Eurasian studies. He retired Emeritus in 2010.
Don’s research took him and his family on extended trips to Moscow and France where he developed enduring international friendships and also an interest in sailing, beginning on the Baltic and continuing on the Great Lakes. His lifelong love of music was enriched through the choir at St. Meinrad, through friendship, and through appreciation of Russia’s musical heritage. His 33 years of residence in Toledo’s Old West End brought him many dear neighbors and friends.
Along with his spouse of 41 years, Susan Carlton Rowney, he is survived by his sons, Kevin (Amber) Rowney and Christopher (Siobhan) Rowney; grandchildren, Christopher, Tate, Caden and Cathal; sister, Sister Mary Louise Rowney; and sister-in-law, Rosemarie Carlton.