PORT ST LUCIE \u2013 In what was an emotional, and sometimes humorous event, about 100 local business leaders and residents gathered together to reminisce about a woman they all knew and loved, Jane Rowley.<\/p>\n
Rowley died in October and her memorial service was recently held at the Mid-Florida Event Center.<\/p>\n
Maryanne Kehlenbach, retired minister, set the tone for the event during her opening remarks. \u201cJane was a no BS person. She would tell it like it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many speakers remembered Jane for her wit and her come-back retorts.<\/p>\n
But she was also remembered for her compassionate and caring nature.<\/p>\n
Doug Anderson, former St. Lucie County Administrator, remembered Jane fondly.<\/p>\n
\u201cJane was a true friend to everyone,\u201d he said. \u201cShe always remembered that my birthday was on Christmas Day. She knew so many people and yet she remembered your birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Terissa Aronson, President and CEO of the St. Lucie County Chamber of Commerce, honored Rowley at the event by showing a street sign titled, \u201cJane Ave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJane always self-proclaimed to be the original St. Lucie County street walker,\u201d Aronson said. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t really a street walker, but she was always in so many places in the community, that\u2019s what she called herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Chamber hands out a monthly and annual award named after Rowley, Aronson wanted to do more to honor her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband and I built this street sign. The \u2018Jane Ave.\u2019 sign will be displayed during our Networker of the Month awards at the Saints Pub.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former newspaper publisher and now communications director for the St Lucie EDC, Maureen Saltzer described Rowley\u2019s spirited personality.<\/p>\n
\u201cJane was so full of life, energy and sheer spunk. She made such a difference in so many aspects of our community, her \u2018street-walking\u2019 spirit will be with us for as long as the last of who knew her lives on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowley was also famous locally for her crab dip, a recipe she shared with no one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried so hard to get that recipe,\u201d local businessman Jimmy Freitas said. \u201cI tried for years, but I never got it.\u201d But he also shared his love for her. \u201cShe was like my second mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowley was well-known in the community for wearing many hats throughout the years.<\/p>\n
She was a former florist, having previously owned The Flower Garden Gift Shop, a caterer, marketing and communications specialist, civic leader and former Port St. Lucie City Councilwoman.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year she was honored at a roast and officially named \u201cQueen of St. Lucie County.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJane truly was a beloved child of God who understood what it was to love your neighbor,\u201d Kehlenbach said. \u201cHer position in life was to help foster a community of joy and love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowley died Oct. 25 at the age of 85. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gene Rowley, Sr., and is survived by a son, Gene Rowley, Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST LUCIE \u2013 In what was an emotional, and sometimes humorous event, about 100 local business leaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":{"0":"post-87333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","11":"tag-st_lucie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}