Tishomingo Alumni Association, Inc.
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In Remembrance
Obituary


Frances Laverne 'Pinky' [Rowe] Hughes (Class of 1948) )

 

Frances Laverne "Pinky" [Rowe] Hughes (Class of 1948)
Tishomingo, OK
Age 86
January 13, 2017

Funeral Services for Mrs. Frances L. "Pinky" Rowe, 86, of Tishomingo, Oklahoma will be held on Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 2:00 p. m. at the First Assembly of God Church with Reverend John Harris officiating, assisted by Reverend Cordell Hines and Mr. Dustin Rowe. Interment will follow in the Tishomingo Cemetery. Pinky was born on July 25, 1930 in Tishomingo, Oklahoma to Thomas Jefferson Hughes and Molly Lorena (Thomas) Hughes. She passed away on January 13, 2017 in Madill, Oklahoma at the age of 86.

Pinky married Raymond V. “Ray” Rowe in Prosser, Washington on November 22, 1947. During the early years of their marriage, they lived throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada, where Pinky was a homemaker, while Ray served as a construction purchasing agent. In 1969, they moved their family to Tishomingo where they purchased the Dairy Queen. They owned and operated Pinky's Dairy Queen for 42 years.

Pinky was proud of her Chickasaw heritage. She was the granddaughter of original enrollee Mamie Cravatt Hughes, a full blood Chickasaw Indian. Pinky spoke fondly of her childhood on the banks of the Blue River, her grandmother’s homestead allotment.

Pinky was a member of the Tishomingo First Assembly of God Church where she served many years as president of the church’s women’s ministries. She spent many years in a bowling club with her sisters and daughter, and traveled throughout the United States in league bowling. Pinky was an early volunteer at Johnston Memorial Hospital helping in the gift shop. She enjoyed working the “lunch run” at the Dairy Queen and was often seen checking on customers in the dining room. Ray and Pinky employed hundreds of young people at the Dairy Queen over four decades, helping many pursue their education. Pinky considered all Dairy Queen employees as her family and she enjoyed watching them grow and mature into successful adults. Pinky was preceded in death by five sisters, and two brothers.

She is survived by her husband Ray of the home; her son, Raymond T. Rowe and wife Brenda, and her daughter, Cindy McIver and husband Mike, all of Tishomingo; four grandchildren, Christopher Rowe of Huntsville, TX, Carrie McCormick of Mill Creek, WA, Dustin Rowe and Natasha Gray of Tishomingo; one sister, Linda Sweat of Oklahoma City; eight great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.