Rose Gowen sold vegan food at the Brownsville Farmers' Market on Halloween, her last market day before leaving town with her husband, Jeff. The couple is moving to Eugene, Oregon, to be closer to their children.
Gowen, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, served on the Brownsville City Commission for 16 years. She was founding chair of the Brownsville Wellness Coalition and secured the first city grant for the Farmers' Market. She also helped start CycloBia, and was a driving force behind The Challenge RGV. The city renamed the West Rail Trail the Rose M.Z. Gowen M.D. Trail last year in her honor. The trail is part of the Caracara Trails network.
In an interview with the Brownsville Herald on Oct. 26, Gowen said the family wanted to be near their children and extended family. "We wanted to be close to family," she said. She also said the children had fallen in love with the Pacific Northwest.
Gowen is a Brownsville native. She attended the University of Houston, graduating magna cum laude, then went to medical school in Dallas and completed her residency in St. Louis, where she lived for 10 years.