Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ

BOLIVAR, Mo. — Ellen Rose Douglas Roweton of Bolivar, and Thomas B. Welch ’78, of Victoria, Minn., will receive honorary doctorates from Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ during the annual Founders’ Day chapel service at 10 a.m. Monday, March 5, in Pike Auditorium.

Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ awards honorary doctorates to recognize outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to society and to kingdom work.

Ellen Rose Douglas Roweton

Rose Roweton was born to Elvin and Florence Douglas, both 1927 graduates of Southwest Baptist College. She graduated in 1955 from Bolivar High School, where she was valedictorian and class president. Roweton was inducted into the Bolivar High School Hall of Fame in 2001.

Roweton received a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Missouri in 1959 and was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, president of the Mortar Board Honor Society, Concert Band, Marching Mizzou and University Singers.

She married Max Roweton, a 1956 SWBC and 1958 Mizzou graduate, in 1959. She taught music at Humansville Schools for one year, and after starting a family, served as an elementary room mother for 12 straight years and PTA president. She received the Bolivar Civic Service Award in 1988 for her lifetime participation in community service. She also taught private piano and flute lessons from 1961-1975.

Rose and Max were co-owners of Roweton’s Home Center, formerly Roweton’s Western Auto, purchased by Max’s parents in 1948. Rose began working at the family business in 1968, helping with errands, stocking shelves and assisting customers. She particularly enjoyed sales, but also performed accounting, purchasing and personnel management duties. Roweton’s Western Auto received the Bolivar Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award in 1996. Rose plans to retire this year after having worked at Roweton’s for 50 years, and as manager for 19 years.

Rose and Max Roweton, who live in Bolivar, have five children: Vicki, Kendal, Denni, Marla and Kelly, 17 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She has been a member of First Baptist Church of Bolivar since she was a child, and has taught 5 year olds in Sunday school for 39 years.

Thomas B. Welch ’78

Tom Welch was born in Tennessee, but spent most of his childhood in Florida, graduating from high school in Panama City in 1974. He earned a degree in business administration from SWBC in 1978 and began his career in Little Rock, Ark., where he met Robin, whom he married in 1979.

Welch joined the investment firm of Dean Witter Reynolds in 1981 to begin a career in investment management. From 1985-1990, he managed the investment activities of the Trust Division of Union National Bank in Little Rock and was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. In 1990, Welch joined the investment team as a portfolio manager at Boatmen’s Trust Company in St. Louis.

In 2002, a chance discussion with Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ alum and investment manager Jim Jones, who managed the endowment fund at Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ, led to re-involvement with the University and the beginning of a multi-year collaboration between Welch, Jones and the Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ Investment Committee.

Welch and his family moved to Minnesota in 2003, where he served as managing director for Wells Capital Management, representing investment strategies to large institutional clients. In 2003, he was awarded the C. Stewart Sheppard Award by the CFA Institute for his contributions to the education of professional investors.

Welch and his wife, Robin, have been married 38 years and have three grown children – Rachel, Robert and Caroline – and two granddaughters. In recent years, Welch has served on the advisory board of the student-run investment fund at the University of Minnesota and on the finance committee of his local hospital. He also is on the advisory board of his county government water management agency and serves as a hospice volunteer. Welch is active in his church and serves as a teacher of adult classes.

Founders’ Day chapel is open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Brad Johnson, vice president of university relations, at (417) 328-1805.

*Published: 2-27-18