Rosa N Sowers

Born: February 3, 1926, Tuckerman, Arkansas

Died: October 15, 2023, Starkville, Mississippi

On February 3, 1926, Sam and Maggie (Haynes) McDonald of Tuckerman, Arkansas were blessed by the birth of their first child, Rosa Nell McDonald. Rosa was the eldest of eight children and grew up in Tuckerman and Wichita, Kansas. After attending public school, Rosa traveled to California where she worked in an airplane factory in support of the World War II war effort. Upon returning to Wichita, she continued working in the aircraft industry.

It was during this time, she met a handsome strong man, Archie G Sowers, who was an army veteran and worked in the building trades. The two would court and were married in Wichita on January 25, 1948. Archie was a native of Leon, Kansas and the young couple would make their home there. To this union were born three children, Rosa Linda, Richard Allen, and Karen Jo. After the children graduated from high school, Archie and Rosa moved to Kosciusko, Mississippi where Archie continued in the construction industry. Rosa and her sister Anne Steen owned and operated Rosanne’s Fabric store. Around 1975, the Sowers and Steens would move to rural Canton near Ross Barnett Reservoir. The couples would spend many an evening in the shared living room built between their adjoining houses and fishing on the reservoir.

After Archie retired from construction work, Rosa and Archie would hit the road and crisscross Dixie selling socks and lamps at swap meets. The couple made numerous friends from the Carolina’s to Texas. As these joyous years rolled past, physical ailments halted the traveling. Archie passed away in 2015. Shortly after his death, Rosa moved to Starkville, where she increasingly devoted time to her hobbies, the greatest of which was genealogy. She shared this passion with her sisters, Anne, Patsy, and Jenny. The sisters would travel the highways of the east coast in search of family history, seeing the sights, and enjoying each other’s company. She was a member of the Rebekahs, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Colonial Dames.

Having lived a full life, Rosa elected to succumb after a short illness on October 15, 2023 at the Carrington House in Starkville. She is preceded in death by her parents, five siblings: Jean McColpin, Anne Steen, Ray McDonald, Jenny Weisner, and Rudy McDonald, and two grandchildren, Stephen Adams and Jennifer Adams. She is survived by a sister, Patsy Greene of Ashland City, Tennessee, one brother, Oscar “Sonny” (Janelle) McDonald of Norman, Oklahoma; her children, Rosa Linda (Dennis) Holland of Abilene, Kansas; Richard Allen (Mary) Sowers, of Starkville; and Karen Jo Adams, of Brandon. Also surviving are 9 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and 4 great- great- grandchildren.

Visitation is 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m., Friday, October 20, 2023, at Jordan Funeral Home. Funeral service is at 2:00 p.m., Friday, October 20, 2023, at Jordan Funeral Home Chapel with burial to follow at Parkway Cemetery. Rev. Richard Chambers will officiate.