Paris D. Rowlett, Jr

Paris Dewey Rowlett Junior, 85, peacefully passed away on February 22, 2022 after a four-day stay at the Symphony Buffalo Grove Rehabilitation Facility located in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Paris, known to friends as “Red” or “Junior” lived with his younger daughter Sandra (Rowlett) Daily in Round Lake Park for three years. He was born on May 4, 1936 in Middlesboro Kentucky, the fifth child of Paris D. and Bertha (Parks) Rowlett.

Paris graduated from Middlesboro High School, Class of 1955. In high school, he played basketball football. Following graduation, he served with the U.S. Airforce as an aircraft mechanic. Upon returning to Middlesboro, he married Virginia Burch and, after the birth of their oldest daughter, Kathleen (Rowlett) Watkins, they settled in Lafayette, Indiana where they lived for nearly sixty years.

Paris worked at Schwab’s Safe, General Foods, and R.R. Donnelley Publishers, but is best known for the many years he worked as a residential and commercial milkman for Borden Dairy. Family and friends used to say that there was no one in Lafayette who did not know Paris. Paris enjoyed fishing and hunting, and loved keeping busy tending his yard. His daughters claim that he was capable of building or fixing anything. He was an avid fan of the Indianapolis Colts, the Purdue Boilermakers and the University of Kentucky Wildcats.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife Virginia, his sister Gladys, and his brothers Marvin, Roy, and Lester. He is survived by his daughter Kathleen, and her partner Frank Zastawnik of Baltimore, Maryland; daughter Sandra, and her husband Mack Daily of Round Lake Park; granddaughters Jennifer (Daily) O’Donnell and husband Kyle residing in Georgia; Laura Daily and fiancé Frank Bozelka residing in Illinois; Miranda (Daily) Hinson and husband Josh residing in Oklahoma; grandson Dalton Daily in Illinois; and his brother Kenneth Rowlett and family residing in South Carolina. Also surviving are great-grandchildren: Claire Hinson, Marcus O’Donnell, and Connor O’Donnell.

A memorial will be scheduled in Lafayette, Indiana when the weather warms. Paris and his wife Virginia asked that their ashes be interned together in Middlesboro, Kentucky where they both started life. Those who wish to remember Paris in a special way are asked to make gifts in his memory to Hospice Volunteer Services near their homes or at NorthShore Home Health and Hospice as the staff and volunteers did much for him until the very end.