Rosalie McDowell, of White, South Dakota, died on May 22, 2020, at the age of 70.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at McKnight Hall in White beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will immediately follow the service at Fairview Cemetery in White.
A time of visitation will be held on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the First Baptist Church of White.
Those considered to be at high risk of contracting COVID-19 are encouraged to attend visitation from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the general public is encouraged to attend from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Eidsness Funeral Home is assisting the McDowell family with arrangements. Memorials are preferred to a Ministry of the Church, Minnesota ALS organization, or to hospice.
Rosalie Diana McDowell was born April 17, 1950 the daughter of Edward Dreesman and Matilda (Peters) Dreesman in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, and attended elementary through High School in Waterloo, Iowa. After high school, she attended the University of Northern Iowa.
Rosalie worked at a bakery, took inventory for Ardans and K-Mart, took tickets and delivered the money for Barnum and Bailey Circus, worked at J.C. Penney in Waterloo, Iowa, as the head of their drapery workroom, taught two Adult Education classes at Hawkeye Technical Institute in Waterloo, IA, worked at Pro Farmers of America in Cedar Falls, Iowa, at McDonalds in Ankeny, IA, Burgen’s Drapery Workroom in Des Moines, Iowa IA, did a lot of baby-sitting for other people, she sewed and mended clothes and made drapes for other people on the side, and she was a teacher’s assistant in New Hartford, IA, and at Deubrook Area Schools in Toronto and White, SD, until she retired in August of 2019.
Rosalie met Paul McDowell at Walnut Ridge Baptist Church in 1977. Rosalie and Paul were married on July 7, 1979, at Walnut Ridge Baptist Church in Waterloo, Iowa.
In 1980, Rosalie and Paul moved to Ankeny, Iowa, so Paul could attend Faith Baptist Bible College. She delivered two of their children while they lived in Ankeny, IA. She earned two P.Y.H.T. (Put Your Hubby Through) Degrees from Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary. In 1987, Rosalie and Paul moved to New Hartford, Iowa, where Paul became a pastor at First Baptist Church. While in New Hartford, she delivered two more sons (1987, 1994). They moved to White, SD, in August of 2004, and she immediately started working at Deubrook Area Schools.
At the age of six, Rosalie asked Jesus to be her Savior from sin and placed her faith in Jesus at Walnut Street Baptist Church in Waterloo, Iowa. She was baptized by immersion as a believer at that church soon after her salvation. Rosalie was a lady of faith and maintained a conservative point of view in her Christianity and in her world view. She was faithful and active in her churches. Rosalie believed in prayer, and she was a prayer warrior and was known to stay up all night praying for the ones she loved. God answered yes to a lot of her prayers. She was a faithful and loving wife and mother and lived for God and her family.
Rosalie died of ALS May 22, 2020. She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Pastor Paul McDowell, her four children; son Edward (Anna) McDowell of Cottage Grove, MN, and their children Ande, Aden, Carlie, and Colin; daughter Leah McDowell of New Hartford, IA; son Paul McDowell of Brookings, SD; and son Joseph (Emily) McDowell of Des Moines, IA; her older brother Edward (Patricia) Dreesman of Sioux City, IA; and her younger sister Marilyn (Robert) King of Cedar Park, TX. She was preceded in death by her parents Edward and Matilda Dreesman and her in-laws Pastor Paul and Mona McDowell.
