William Pat Rowe

Pat Rowe, 86, a native and lifelong resident of American Falls, Idaho died on June 30, 2026 of natural causes. Although Pat resided on the family farm north of town nearly his entire life, he truly was a man of the world, traveling to and often living in nearly 30 countries throughout his life.

Pat was born on October 15, 1939, the sixth and last child born to Margrete A. “Annie” Phillips Rowe and Willard A. “Bill” Rowe. After graduating from American Falls High School in 1957, Pat enrolled at Idaho State College. Pat’s time at Idaho State was life changing on many fronts. He met Linda Keckler, his future wife, and he was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s call to service to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” And so began Pat’s love of travel and of service to others.

After graduating with a B.A. in Education in 1961, Pat was among the first group of volunteers to join President Kennedy’s newly formed Peace Corps. His first assignment: the Philippines. While there, Pat wrote to Linda and convinced her to also become a Peace Corps volunteer and to join him. She did, and they were married on July 21, 1962 in the Malete Catholic Cathedral in Manila.

The young couple made life-long friends in the Philippines and developed a deep sense of empathy for the people and an understanding of the struggles faced by those living in developing countries.

Pat and Linda’s next stop was in Puerto Rico, where Pat was assigned to train new Peace Corps volunteers along the island’s northwest coast. It was also where their first child, Will was born in early 1964. Later that year, their time as Peace Corps volunteers ended and the family returned to Pocatello where Pat enrolled in a Masters program at Idaho State University.

Pat completed his M.A. in Education in 1965, writing his thesis on the murder trial of “Diamondfield Jack” Davis and his role in the range wars waged in the late 1800s between Southern Idaho sheepmen and cattlemen. His thesis finished, the family moved to Aberdeen, Idaho where Pat became a public school teacher at Aberdeen Junior High School then Aberdeen High School, teaching government, speech, and debate for the next decade.

Pat and Linda’s second child Anna was born in late summer 1965 while the family lived in Aberdeen. Two years later, the family moved to their new home on the family farm where daughter Julie was born in fall 1967.

Pat spent his teaching years engaging his students in lively classroom discussions on current events often inspired by headlines pulled straight from the daily newspaper. Former students were known to say how much they enjoyed Pat’s classes and how they learned to better formulate opinions.

In 1975, Pat retired from teaching and took a more active role on the family farm, working with his father Bill. After their kids had grown and son Will was ready to take over running the farm, Pat and Linda resumed their worldly travels going to places like Egypt, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Azerbaijan, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe, and Moldova on U.S. government-sponsored trips to promote new agricultural techniques. They worked with farmers in these countries, helping them produce more harvest and better store their crops with the limited resources available to them.

In Afghanistan, Pat showed Afghan farmers how to build spud cellars like those used in Southern Idaho in the mid 20th century. First Lady Laura Bush was so impressed, she included Pat’s work in a 2008 speech that she delivered in France where she said, “Afghan potato farmers in Bamiyan (Afghanistan) have learned storage methods from an Idaho potato farmer that are making crops more profitable.”

As in his early years in the Philippines, Pat developed deep bonds with the people he worked with throughout the world. The Associated Press article that quoted Laura Bush, also included a quote from Pat about the Afghan farmers he got to know and care deeply about: “The people are good people,” Pat said. “The folks I worked with, I’d swim the Snake River for them.”

Much of Pat’s later years were spent caring for his wife Linda, whom he loved deeply, when she was afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease and later died in 2020. After Linda’s passing, Pat spent his time tending his yard and visiting friends and family in and around American Falls. He also shared stories about his adventures and his friends worldwide who were always in his thoughts, right up until the end.

Pat is survived by his children Will (Ana) Rowe, Anna Rowe (Alan Benson), and Julie Rowe. His grandchildren include Bill Rowe, Abby Rowe (Ethan Kim), Dacia Yang (Ahmed Abdulwahab Mohammed Al-Kubari), Emmaline Benson, and William Benson. Pat is preceded in death by his wife Linda, his parents, and siblings, Willard Rowe Jr, Miles Rowe, Elda Rowe Boyle, Raymond Rowe and Helen Rowe Peckham.

A visitation will be held on July 23, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. and July 24, 10:00 - 10:30 a.m. at Davis Rose Mortuary. A graveside service will be held at Falls View Cemetery on July 24 at 11:00 a.m. with a luncheon to follow at Millhouse Event Center in American Falls.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Pat’s honor may be made to PBS or Friends of the American Falls Library.

Family and friends are invited to visit DavisRoseMortuary.com to order flowers, or to share condolences, memories, and photos.