Feb. 23, 1947 – May 20, 2022
MATTOON, IL — William Stephan Rowland, Mattoon, IL, formerly of Davenport, IA, died peacefully in his home Friday, May 20, surrounded by family at the age of 75. Known as “Steve” to his family and friends from his early life, and later as “Bill” to co-workers and colleagues as he started his career, he lived a full, satisfying and successful life both personally and professionally. Per his wishes, cremation rites have been performed and a small, private celebration of his life will be held at a later date.
He was born February 23, 1947, in Oskaloosa, IA, son of Harold D. “Jim” Rowland and Evelyn Michmershuizen Rowland. The family lived in Pershing, IA, until moving to Davenport in the early 1950s. He grew up in Davenport and graduated from West High School in 1965. He married Kathy Young in Davenport on October 12, 1968. They raised two daughters, Melissa and Annie.
He supported his young family by working a “swing shift” for a few years at Occidental Chemical Company in Buffalo, IA, filling railroad tank cars. He aspired to more, and began taking correspondent college courses from the University of Iowa. Eventually he enrolled at St. Ambrose College and earned a degree in accounting in 1975. He became a certified public accountant and was hired by Peat Marwick Mitchell to work in their Davenport office. While there he served as chief recruiter, traveled the country as one of the firm’s trainers and focused on bank acquisitions and mergers. In 1989 he left the firm to take a position at First Mid-Illinois Bank, Mattoon, IL, as chief financial officer. In 1999 he was named chief executive officer and chairman of the board of First Mid-Illinois Bancshares and served in that capacity until his retirement in 2013. During his tenure he successfully steered the bank through the unprecedented challenges of the 2008 banking crisis, ensuring the bank would survive and thrive in a time when many banks did not. He served on numerous local boards of charitable and civic organizations including the Mattoon YMCA, Coles Together, the Lakeland College Foundation and CCAR Industries.
His lifelong passion was fishing, and later in life, fly fishing. He and Kathy fished alongside brown bears for salmon and trout in Alaska; angled for wily big brown trout in challenging New Zealand streams; stalked tarpon, bonefish and permit in Belize; targeted steelhead on the Pere Marquette River in Michigan; wrestled big muskies into the boat in Ontario; and spent countless hours wading, floating and casting for rainbows, cutthroats and browns in Wyoming, Montana, Georgia and Arizona. He also could be found many mornings on the beach of North Captiva Island, FL, casting in the surf for snook, redfish or sea trout. When he wasn’t fishing he was planning his next fishing trip and buying flies, lines, rods and reels he might need.
While most of their travels were planned around fishing, he and Kathy shared other adventures that included a dawn hot air balloon ride over the Maasai Mara in Kenya; a trek across the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand; and an overnight at “Bear Camp,” Lake Clark, Alaska, to observe and photograph brown bears in the wild. But dearest of all his adventures was time spent in Yellowstone National Park. The beauty, ruggedness and natural wonders of the park spoke to him as nothing else on Earth. He was especially interested in the reintroduction of wolves to the park and volunteered as a citizen scientist to study how the wolve’ introduction into the Yellowstone ecosystem affected other animals. Visits to the park included long hikes and hours of observing wolf and bear behavior through his spotting scope. After retirement, he and Kathy took their first trip to Yellowstone in the winter, a “bucket list” item for them both. His greatest joy, however, was taking his grandchildren on trips to the park to show them his favorite place on the planet, and seeing it all over again as if for the first time through their eyes.Left to cherish his memory is his wife of 53 years, Kathy; daughter Melissa Lierman (Ben), Indianapolis, IN; daughter Annie Rowland (John Redmond), Stone Mountain, GA; grandchildren Collin and Cary Lierman; Jacob and Scarlett Nixon; and step-grandchildren Hannah, Perle and J.C. Redmond. He is also survived by his brother David (Tracy) and nephew John, all of Davenport and brothers- and sisters-in-law Shelly and Lance Ricker, Jill and Paul Ryan, Jeff and Donna Young and Steve and Cindy Young. He will be greatly missed by his four-footer friend and walking companion, Willie. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorials may be made in his name to: Yellowstone Forever at www.yellowstoneforever.org or mail a check to Yellowstone Forever, PO Box 1857, Bozeman MT 59771-1857 (please designate donations to the Wolf Project); the Lake Land College Foundation scholarship fund, www.lakelandcollege.edu; or to the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, www.bonefishtarpontrust.org.
Online condolences may be expressed at www.schillingfuneralhome.net or Schilling Funeral Home’s Facebook page.
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