David W. Rowell

David Rowell was born November 2, 1938, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He attended St. Paul public school and it was during this time that his interest in math and related subjects pointed him to a career in engineering along with the fact that he had a major dislike toward any type of English or writing classes. He also developed a love of music and singing which lasted through out his entire lifetime. He went on to continues his studies at Macalester College in St. Paul where he decided on a career in Electrical Engineering. He transferred to the University of Minnesota and graduated from there with a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering. After his college graduation Dave received a job at Douglas Aircraft In Long Beach, California and he made the long trek from Minnesota to California alone.  Even though he and Carolynn had been dating for a couple of years, she had recently received a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education and signed a teaching contract in St. Paul, Minnesota. Neither one of them wanted to break a contract, so Carolynn stayed in Minnesota to teach for the year while Dave went to Long Beach to work building planes. It’s hard to imagine phone service in 1962 and long distant phone calls were charged by the minute and very expensive for a young couple so they talked only once every couple of weeks. Now in 2020, the conversations would have probably been several times a day along with texting and pictures. When Dave came home for Christmas, Carolynn received a beautiful diamond ring and from that point on it was pretty much wedding planning until July 27, when they married in Babbitt, Minnesota.

Dave and Carolynn welcomed their son, Breck, into their family on May 7 ^th , 1964 and with baby in tow, moved into a brand new house in Garden Grove in 1965. Their family was complete when Brenda arrived on August 24th, 1967. After a number of years at working for Douglas Aircraft, he changed jobs and went to work for Northrop Aircraft. He worked on many different projects between the two companies, with one of them being designing the dashboard of the Stealth Bomber. When one of his projects was moved to Palmdale, he commuted daily by vanpool for several years. His hard work and dedication for his work projects led him to get up at 3 am to catch the van and begin work at 7 am and then take the van home in the afternoon so he would be home at 5pm to spend time with his family. During his working career, Dave earned his Masters degree in engineering at Long Beach State University just before beginning “the commute” in the van. These were happy years, spending time with family and friends, singing in the church choir, active in church activities, traveling to Minnesota to visit our family, and keeping busy with raising two children. In 1990, Dave retired and began a new phase in his life, retirement. Dave and Carolynn enjoyed retirement, traveling to many beautiful places around the world including Hawaii, England, Austria, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries. For their 50th anniversary, they took a very memorable trip to Iceland. For many of our trips were taken with our good friends, John and Margie Bruton or Pastor Christie and Ruth. Retirement also included time spent with family, especially, grandchildren, Sean and Megan Campeau, who kept us busy traveling to Northern California for various activities with school, sports, and church.

In mid June, Dave began to suffer liver issues and was hospitalized many times over several months while doctors tried to get everything under control so he could have a healthier outcome. It was not to be and he passed into heaven on March 1st, 2020, gently and peacefully at Long Beach Memorial Hospital with Carolynn and Brenda beside him. The hospital nurses were so loving and kind and just plain awesome and Dave died with the greatest of care from them.

Dave leaves behind his wife of 56 years, Carolynn, son Breck and daughter Brenda Campeau (Tom Campeau), two grandchildren, Sean and Megan. He also leaves behind his brother, Bob and many wonderful friends and neighbors who he cherished throughout years. Preceding him to heaven were his parents, Dorothy and Bob Rowell.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

You are invited to a reception at the home of John and Margie Bruton, 5621 Cerulean Avenue in Garden Grove following the funeral service.

Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401