Harlan "Huck" Harry Rowan Obituary (1931 - 2020)

Harlan "Huck" Harry Rowan passed peacefully on September 10, 2020, surrounded by friends and family. Harlan, or Huck as we all knew him, was born September 26, 1931, to Glendon Andrew Rowan and Keitha Hosack Rowan of Mills, Nebraska, in Keya Paha county. He played sports throughout his school years and fell in love with a beautiful and charismatic cheerleader named Mavis Jean McKenzie. They were married on March 30, 1951. Huck enlisted in the Army the following month, serving in Korea and rising to the rank of Sergeant 1st Class before being honorably discharged in November of 1953. For his service, he was awarded a Merit Unit Commendation, a Korean Service Medal with three bronze stars, and a United Nations Service Medal. A year after his return, his first daughter Jacqueline Jean Rowan was born in 1954. Huck wore many hats after that, first running a filling station with his father in Osceola, Nebraska, where his second daughter Jody Jean Rowan was born in 1957. In 1968 Huck & Mavis bought a plumbing and heating business, Rowan Plumbing and Heating, which they owned and ran until 1976. Huck quickly built a reputation as the guy you called for all your plumbing needs in Polk County. It was then that the family started their nomadic life, sometimes coming home to find out Huck had traded houses with another family or was building a house, all within the small town of Osceola. Once his daughters Jacquie and Jody were away at college, Huck took a job as a mechanical contractor in 1977 that had him manage teams of builders in nearby states. Huck and Mavis spent the next eight years traveling while Huck built various commercial buildings and prisons in Longmont, Colorado, Huntsville, Texas, Golden, Colorado, and eventually back in Nebraska where he built the Animal Science Building in Lincoln. In the fall of 1988, Huck and Mavis moved to Alma, Nebraska, where they built a convenience store called the Short Stop, an ASCS office building, and a car/truck wash. They eventually sold it in 1997 and bought a lakehouse in Clarks, Nebraska, where many summers were spent with the kids and grandkids. Huck and Mavis were the best hosts, and the house was always known for good times, laughs, and a stiff glass of whiskey. When Mavis passed in April of 2015, Huck stayed out at the lake until selling in 2018 and moving back to Osceola. After a year he decided to move into Lincoln, where he got an apartment to be closer to family. He enjoyed spending time cooking, growing herbs, and watching Jeopardy, usually with a glass of whiskey. Huck was preceded in death by his wife Mavis Jean Rowan in 2015 and his sister Linda Lou Beck in 2018. He is survived by his two daughters, Jacqueline Jean Rowan of Lincoln, NE, and Jody Jean Schrader (husband David) of Omaha, NE; grandchildren Kate Rowan Fernandez of Chicago, IL, Kody Dean Schrader (wife Cora, children Mack and Noah) of Omaha, NE, Casey Andrew Schrader (wife Stacy, son Karter) of Lincoln, NE, and Nick Rowan Fernandez (wife Sachi and daughter Telma) of Malaga, Spain. He will be buried with military honors at Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, Nebraska, on September 17, 2020, at 2 pm. Raise a glass and cheers to Huck and Mavis being reunited.