Funeral services for Susan Annette Adams Rowe, a 1970 graduate of Huston-Tillotson College (University), were held in Dallas, Texas on March 29, 2024, Good Friday. Her family was overjoyed that Susan’s services would be held during the Easter Season as they prepared for the Resurrection of Christ. She was proud of her HBCU experience where she competed in Track and Field and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education.
Born July 13, 1947 in San Antonio, Texas, Susan was the eldest daughter of Reverend Julius and Mrs. Bertha M. Adams. She passed March 18, 2024, after living five decades with multiple sclerosis. Services were held on Friday, March 29th.
Correspondence may be directed to the Adams/Rowe Families, 609 Sonora Court, Irving, Texas:
(512.587.1960, Dr. Adams-Means)
In lieu of flowers contributions may be offered to:
Huston-Tillotson University
Attn: Institutional Advancement
900 Chicon Street
Austin, TX 78702
Memo line: Susan A. Adams Rowe
Farewell good servant.
July 13, 1947 to March 18, 2024
Never to shy away from a challenge, Susan Annette Adams Rowe, entered this world July 13, 1947, ready for the mysteries that lay ahead. From her early life on the Westside of San Antonio, Texas, Susan wanted to experience the best this world had to offer, from her baptismal and joining Greater Mt. Olive Baptist Church youth choir, then participating in the Grant Elementary School string orchestra as a violinist to eventually play with the San Antonio All City Youth Symphony. She was a member of the Tejas Council of Girl Scouts from Brownie to Senior Scouts, and became an Adult leader.
While at Dunbar Junior High School she studied clothing design and regularly tailored garments to model in fashion shows. She carried that passion for fashion all the way through high school.
Before entering Thomas Jefferson High School in 1963, she competed against Westside teens raising money and showing composure to win the title of Miss West End Queen. Throughout high school she continued to design, construct and model her garments, but she was also an athlete and competed in track and field. A hard worker, she always managed to have employment, once working as a library assistant at Lackland Air Force Base Officer Training School Library, another summer she was a recreation supervisor for the San Antonio Neighborhood Youth Organization (SANYO) along with Lynn Eusan (an activist and first Black Homecoming Queen at the University of Houston) who was senselessly slain in 1971, in Houston, Texas.
One of Susan’s favorite fun jobs was being a Santa’s helper (elf) at the old main Joske’s store in downtown SA. How she enjoyed greeting the children and showing them to Santa’s castle, then giving them a ride on the Santa Express. During that formative time, she performed in the Delta Sigma Theta Jabberwacky fest.
In 1965, Susan was invited to join the courterie of PALS and Van Courtlandt Society Debutantes in San Antonio.
Upon graduating from TJHS, she did what most young graduates did, she attended San Antonio College (SAC), but after two semesters she experienced her first crisis with multiple sclerosis (MS), an insidious ailment that cuts-short young lives. Thanks to her tenacity and fight she managed to recover from that first episode.
After her recovery she decided to transfer to a historically black college, Huston – Tillotson, where she majored in education and continued to participate in athletics by joining the HT RAMS track and field team. She would not let MS slow her down. Susan completed HT with a Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1970. The semester before her May graduation, Susan became Mrs. Jasper C. Rowe, and moved to Dallas, Texas.
To further her career development, she attended Lone Mountain College in San Francisco to become a reading specialist and North Texas State University. Susan began her professional career with a focus on education, first with St. Bernard Catholic School, then serving on the board of Greenhill School. She contributed significantly to educational advancement for youth through her employment as an Equal Opportunity Specialist for the U.S. Department of Education (HEW), Office of Civil Rights, RegionVI. In that post she was called upon to investigate all matters to ensure citizens received equal treatment under the law. For this she received a certificate for Superior Service. She retired in 1987.
She was active in Dallas/Ft. Worth Barristers’ Wives having served as President, National Barristers’ Wives, Regional Director; Regional Director-West, Dallas Junior Bar Wives; Black United Government Employees (BUDGE), Alpha Wives, North Texas Lawyers’, President of the Federally Employed Women (FEW) and Dallas Carrousels, Inc.
Susan is the eldest daughter and first child of Reverend Julius (deceased) and Mrs. Bertha Mae Adams of San Antonio, Texas. She is one of five children. She was predeceased by her father, and two brothers – Julius Irving and Jeffery Dean Adams. She is survived by her mother, Bertha Adams; her husband Jasper C. Rowe, Esq.; daughter Jillian C. Rowe Hurst (Jaycen); granddaughters Morgan Bailey Hurst and Emma Riley Hurst; sister Dr. Carol L. Adams Means (James) and brother Judge Rodney D. Adams, brother and sister-in-law Cecil (Mary) Rowe along with niece Alyssa A. Means, nephews James H. Means III, Rodney D. Adams Jr., and Jeffery I. Adams, Matthew and Timothy Rowe, and a host of family members.
The family wishes to thank Susan’s care staff at Baylor, Scott & White hospital in Dallas, Tx who attended her during her illness, and offer a sincere thank you to the many friends in attendance with offers of sympathy.
