In Loving Memory

Dolores Marie (Piwetz) Rowlett

Dolores Marie (Piwetz) Rowlett
December 8, 1927
September 20, 2020
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Obituary

Dolores Marie (Piwetz) Rowlett died September 20, 2020, of complications from Covid-19 in San Antonio, Texas. Visitation with the family will be from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 24, at Brenham Memorial Chapel, in Brenham, Texas. Funeral Mass will be at 10:00 am on Friday, September 25, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fayetteville, Texas. Interment will be at 3:00 pm later that day at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston, Texas.

Dolores Marie (Piwetz) Rowlett was born into the Czech community of Fayetteville, Texas, on December 8, 1927, to William Emil Piwetz and Ludmilla (Marek) Piwetz. The 5th of 7 children, she was baptized and confirmed in Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fayetteville, attended parochial and high school there, graduated in 1944, and shook the dust of the farm off her heels for the bright lights of the big city to attend business college in Houston. She began her career as an administrative assistant at Metal Goods Division of Alcan Aluminum Corporation, where she worked for 40 years. She could type 90 words per minute and take shorthand dictation with no mistakes at 100 words per minute, and soon rose to become an executive secretary. She met and married her husband, William C. (Bill) Rowlett, Jr., and with deep respect for each other, their marriage lasted a lifetime. They raised one son, William Douglas Rowlett, and lived in Houston, Coldspring, and Brenham, Texas.

She was a lifetime member of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, a volunteer at Baylor Scott and White Hospital in Brenham, a member of St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Brenham, the KJZT, and the Texas Association of Health Care Volunteers.

She loved fishing, boating, music, sea shell collecting, reading, bridge, golf, and above all else, dancing. She and Bill belonged to several dance clubs in the 1950’s through the 1970’s, and although they loved the Big Band music of the1940’s, they weren’t afraid to learn such scandalously new and risqué moves as the chachacha, mamba, rumba, samba, and even the tango.

Though she never learned to swim and was actually afraid of the water, she participated in the nighttime rescue of three girls who had gone missing on Lake Livingston. She and Bill found all three girls alive in the water about 2 a.m. and brought them safely home to their parents.

She had a sparkling personality, sharp wit, and a kind and generous heart. A Czech farm girl turned sophisticated lady, she was always elegant, well coiffed, and dressed to the nines. She was kind to everyone, made friends everywhere she went, and created a lasting impression on everyone.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, sister Maryann Schmidt, and brothers Steven, Ludwig, Florian, and Frank Piwetz. She is survived by her sister Linda Krenek; son Douglas and his wife Linda; grandsons Ellis Giles and William C. Rowlett III; granddaughter Jennifer Rowlett; great grandchildren Alden and Meredith Giles, Douglas, Karen, and Lilly Watson, and Elora Rowlett.

She wished special thanks and love be given to her loyal friend and care giver, Joyce Pribliski, without whom her final years of independence would have been impossible.

She died September 20, 2020, of complications from Covid-19 in San Antonio, Texas.
At peace now and without pain, she is in the arms of her sweet precious, dancing eternally to the sound of Glen Miller and Arti Shaw.

Dolores requested that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library, 100 MLK Pkwy, Brenham, Texas 77833.