Sheila Rowan’s Legacy
by Nancy Klingener
Sheila Rowan brought a lot to Key West.
To our public life she brought herself — an intelligent,
public-spirited, open-minded citizen who attended city meetings
with a devotion the rest of us found awe-inspiring if
occasionally inexplicable.
She wasn’t attending to get something, like so many, and she
didn’t limit her time to the hot-button, high-profile issues.
She went because she cared about this place, and she knew the
best way to understand its working was to be there, and to pay
attention.
She brought her family, Bill and the four boys — Jason, Noah,
Josh and Ian — each of whom has made the island a better place
through friendship, work and talent. These are hardworking,
creative, capable, generous men. They didn’t get that way by
accident.
If you were lucky enough to know her personally, she brought a
sense of family and community that made island living so much
better, especially for those of us whose families are far away.
Potluck holidays at the Rowans are unique each year but always
memorable. She did not preside as a matriarch at these
gatherings, but she was at the center nonetheless.
She brought a talent for connecting to a huge variety of people,
which she did in a variety of places — at Old City Hall, at the
Garden Club, at Cancer Conquerers, at the Tropic, at the
library.
She brought good old-fashioned manners, noticing a job well done
and taking the trouble to commend the doer, whether it was a
piece in the newspaper or a dish prepared with care.
She combined her old-fashioned manners with a ferocious forward
thinking independence, living life on her terms and forgoing
conventional niceties. She was the most candid person I’ve ever
met; fortunately for our feelings she was also on the perpetual
lookout for the best in people.
For as long as I live here, I will be thankful for what Sheila
brought to Key West. I just don’t know if I can get used to
living here without her.
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