Marla Jan Rowe

Marla Jan Rowe, age 71, went home to her Lord and Savior on April 4th, 2026, at Haven Hospice – Suwannee Valley Hospice Care Center in Lake City, Florida.

Marla was born in Valdosta, Georgia on July 1st, 1954, to her late parents, Wallace and Helen Selph.

Marla is survived by her husband of over 50 years, John Cecil Rowe. Marla was Mama to her only child and daughter, Amber Leigh Jones (Chris Jones) and to her godson, Harold Schweinsberg, but she was Mimi to her two grandsons; Glendon Fischer Jones (Sarah Jones), and Fennley Christian Jones, and she was Marla to all who knew and loved her and were loved by her. Marla was loved by her late sister, Rhonda Selph, and her brother, Mike Selph (Anita Selph).

Marla graduated from high school at Hamilton County High School in Jasper, Florida in 1972. After high school, Marla married the love of her life, Cecil, on November 22nd, 1974, in the farmhouse where she and her siblings grew up.

Marla worked in flower shops throughout her life, but her true God-given calling was being Mama and Mimi. From her baby’s first breath, Marla was a God-fearing mother, and she raised her daughter, Amber, to love Jesus just as much as she did. Marla had a gift for spoiling her baby girl. She made every holiday and birthday ever so magical, and she went on to do the exact same thing for her precious grandbabies. Marla loved the beach almost as much as she loved her family, but everyone knew that nothing could compete with her love for Jesus and her love for her family.

Marla’s life embodied compassion, faithful prayer, wisdom, joy, sass, relentless understanding, adoration for her husband, undeniable motherhood, and love for everyone she ever met. To have known Marla was to love her. Her testimony as a wife shows what it means to love and marry your best friend. Her testimony as a mother shows what it means to love like Jesus. Her testimony as Mimi shows what it means to have grace and never-ending days of laughter. Her testimony of faith shows what it means to be born again and wrapped in peace and in the loving arms of the God of the universe, and that is exactly how Marla left.

Marla went to paradise peacefully, and her loved ones know that Jesus held her hand every step of the way there and that they will see her again someday inside of the pearly gates.

A funeral service will be held on April 8, 2026, at New Hope Baptist Church in Jennings, Florida. The family will receive friends beginning at 10:00 a.m., with the service to follow at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial contributions be made in Marla’s memory to the Hamilton County High School Performing Arts program at https://hamiltonfl.revtrak.net/hs/student-life/#/v/Performing-Arts-Donation.