Daniel Jonathan Stowe ’35

Daniel Jonathan Stowe ’35, of Charlotte, N.C., died July 24, 2006. He was a lifelong member of First Presbyterian Church in Belmont and served on the building committee for the present church building. He graduated from Belmont Abbey Junior College in 1932 and Davidson in 1935. In 1936, he began work with his father and brother in the yarn business. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942. He commanded a patrol boat based in Jacksonville, Fla., and later was promoted to naval operations in Charleston, S.C., and Washington, D.C. In 1939, he pursued a new opportunity in partnership with his father, Robert Lee Stowe, and his brother-in-law, William James Pharr. The Depression, river floods and neglect left the former McAden Mills in McAdenville closed and bankrupt. These new partners renamed the company Stowe Mills and went about building one of North Carolina’s largest and most successful companies. Continuing to grow and pursuing new opportunities with synthetic yarns, Pharr Yarns, Inc. was created in 1950. Dan Stowe retired at the age of 77. Following retirement, his primary focus was the creation of the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. He took an active interest in the master plan and the organizational work that made the garden a reality. He was assisted in this by his wife, Alene, William L. Steele, who became the first executive director and others such as Ann Crammond, director of the Atlanta Botanical Garden and William Lee, chairman of Duke Power Company. He donated the prime land where the garden is situated. Dan Stowe was the recipient of numerous awards including an honorary doctorate from Belmont Abbey College in 1994, the Order of the Longleaf Pine, and the Sims Award. Survivors include his wife, Alene Nobles, 176 Lower Armstrong Ford Rd., Belmont, N.C. 28012. His extended family includes three nephews, Robert Lee Stowe III ’76, Daniel Harding Stowe and Richmond Harding Stowe; one niece, Catherine Ann Pharr Carstarphen; one stepdaughter, Sheryl Buck Boone; one stepson, Stephen Thomas Buck; thirteen grand nieces and nephews, three step granddaughters, and one step grandson.