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Philip Dennis Rowan
February 29, 1924 - April 2, 2013

Obituary​

Philip, 89, of Jacksonville, passed away on April 2nd.  Phil was born in 1924 to Philip and Ruth Towan of Brookville, Pennsylvania.  After ten years in Brookville, New Bethlehem, and Grove City, the family settled in Franklin, Pennsylvania, and "Denny" as he was called in his youth, graduated from Franklin High School in 1942.  He entered the Army Air Corps in 1943 and piloted a B-17 in the waning days of World War Two, flying seven missions over Germany.  He remained in the Air Force as a pilot and safety administrator after the war, serving in Okinawa, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Bermuda, and Japan, and retired as a Major in 1963.  After his retirement Phil moved with his wife and children to Jacksonville.  In 1966 he took a job with Southern Airways as a ground instructor and remained with the company through mergers with Republic Airlines and Northwest Airlines, retiring in 1981.  St. Luke's Episcopal Church had been his church home since 1964, and his ashes will be interred in the memorial garden there.  He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Mildred Voight Towan, by his sister Betty Marwood of Franklin, Pennsylvania, and by his much-beloved dog Roy.   He is survived by his son, Rex Rowan (Nina) of Gainesville, Florida, his daughters, Barbara Rowan of Toccoa, Georgia, and Janice Huebner (Rich) of Charlottesville, Virginia, his grandchildren, Capt. Graham Rowan and Sarah Rowan of Gainesville, and Peri Huebner of Charlottesville, his niece Sue Hilton of Franklin, Pennsylvania, and his nephew Steve Marwood of Linesville, Pennsylvania.  In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Jacksonville Humane Society, 8464 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32216. "I'd give them a thousand dollars if I could," he once said.