Richard (Dick) Rowe, Sr., the co-founder of Indmar Marine Engines, passed away Nov. 22 at the age of 95.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my father,” Chuck Rowe, former president of Indmar Marine Engines, said in a statement. “My father was a courageous leader who defined the very essence of corporate and civic responsibility. His passion and commitment to boating benefitted not only Indmar Marine Engines but the entire marine industry.”
Born on May 4, 1927, like most young men of the time when war dominated the 1940s, Dick wanted to serve his country and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Toward the end of his 20 years with the Marines, he became a partner in a boat dealership based in Memphis, Tenn. After he retired from the military, Rowe and his wife Donna started a marine and industrial distributorship called Indmar Products Company Inc., in Millington, Tenn.
For Dick Rowe, boating was a way of life, and he gave back for more than 40 years, committing himself to the recreational boating industry. He looked beyond the four walls at Indmar and in 2002, Rowe received the National Marine Manufacturers Association Chapman Award that recognized his contribution to recreational boating. In 2004, he was inducted into the NMMA Hall of Fame.
“Dick Rowe is a legend in the boating industry,” Correct Craft president and CEO Bill Yeargin said in the statement. “His Hall-of-Fame career is an example of outstanding innovation and industry support. When Dick spoke, people in our industry listened. He was very highly respected.”
Yeargin continued, “Dick did what few people could do when he started Indmar Marine Engines, and with his son Chuck, grew it into an industry-leading supplier of engines. The boating industry is much better today because of Dick Rowe and Indmar Marine Engines.”
