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We regret to inform you of the passing of Raymond Rowe. Please keep his family in your prayers.  

Raymond's Obituary
Raymond L. Rowe, 74, of Sioux City left us to go on his last great fishing adventure on Monday, November 28, 2022.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1:00 P.M. Friday, December 2, 2022 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  Visitation with the family will be Thursday, December 1, 2022 from 5:00-7:00 P.M. with a Vigil Service at 7:00 P.M. at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel.  Burial will be at Omaha Valley Cemetery in Homer, Nebraska.  Online condolences may be given at www.meyerbroschapels.com. 
Ray was born May 14, 1948 in Sioux City, the son of Vincent and Betty (Tone) Rowe.  He graduated from Heelan High School in 1966.  Ray married Kathleen McManigal on April 20, 1968 in Homer, NE.  He worked for the Sioux City Community school district in operations and maintenance for 41 years, retiring as a supervisor.  Ray also was the director for the Iowa Schools Building and Grounds Association (ISBGA) where he was able to share his years of knowledge across the state of Iowa.  He enjoyed fishing, especially his yearly fishing trips to Minnesota with his son and grandson. He was an avid wood worker and enjoyed years of making items for local craft shows and for friends and family members. Ray enjoyed gardening and could always be found outside tinkering around the yard or in his workshop. He was a life-long member of Sacred Heart Catholic Parish with entertaining memories of attending there as a young student.
Those left to cherish his memory include his wife Kathleen Rowe of Sioux City; his daughter Melissa and husband Sparky Warren of Sioux City and Emerson, NE; grandchildren:  Rachel and husband Trevor Poland and Patrick and wife Liz Weber; great grandchildren:  Cooper, Tucker, and Ashlynn; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, son-in-law Patrick Weber Sr., great granddaughter Ainsley Poland, his only sister and both of his brothers, and his son Michael Rowe on October 6, 2022. 
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Brief History of the ISBGA:
In 1988 four gentlemen from different parts of the state of Iowa felt that they were missing out on an organization in the state that dealt with buildings and grounds maintenance as it related to educational institutes. So Mr. Bill Good who was the director of facilities at Davenport IA reached out to Mel McKern Council Bluffs IA, Dave Dvorak Cedar Rapids IA, and Jim Haring from Clinton IA. A meeting was arranged in Clinton IA to discuss the concept. From that meeting the Iowa Schools Buildings and Grounds Association (ISBGA) was born. The group decided to concentrate on the following items:
  • Create an organization for school buildings and grounds supervisors to collaborate on common issues related to school problems and concerns.
  • Use collaboration to help spell out B&G supervisors review best practices in other districts to optimize resources for the tax payers.
  • Bring in experts to share different perspectives on processes and services.
The first officers of the group included:
  • President Bill Good, Davenport Iowa
  • Vice President Mel McKern, Council Bluffs Iowa
  • Treasure Dave Dvorak, Cedar Rapids Iowa
  • James Haring, Clinton Iowa
  • Robert Thomas, Cedar Rapids Iowa
  • John Dungan, Newton Iowa
Since that first meeting, the ISBGA has grown to well over 100 members. Presently, the group is led by Raymond Rowe, a retired facility manager from the Sioux City Community Schools District. The group meets quarterly and one of those meetings is the summer conference which is one of the premier educational conferences In the state of Iowa for personnel involved in the buildings and grounds of facilities the organization in the past 30 years has put on asbestos training, vendor shows, security training, cleaning seminars, boiler maintenance, HVAC maintenance, landscaping and many other related subjects at little or no cost to the individual school district. The organization is very proud to say it’s keeping up on all the new available technology to get the word out how important this organization is to school district in the state of Iowa whether it’s new website ISBGA.org, Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to being around another 30 years as we move into the future.​