GRAFTON - Flo Rowling and her husband, John, have encountered considerable grief in recent years, losing two sons.
One son, Danny, 53, died recently in a motor-vehicle crash on Witt Mill Road in Jersey County. Her other son, Doug, died in 2011 after a bout with cancer.
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Flo Rowling is a high profile woman who is a member of the Grafton City Council. The family had a private funeral for her son, but she wanted to tell others about his life and how much he meant to her in his time here.
Flo said her son had an immense amount of talent with his hands in woodworking and almost any kind of construction work.
“When I look out my kitchen door, I see the first door Danny ever put in,” Flo said. “I also can see the wooden deck he built that goes half way around the house. He poured the concrete sidewalks in the back yard. The wooden fence here is something else he built. We live on the edge of Grafton on three acres. Danny could do just about anything.”
Danny Rowling was a mechanical person, who had abilities with cars that few possessed, his mother said. He had a certificate to be a mechanic and he was a fire protection specialist in the Air Force, she added.
Flo said when Danny returned home from serving in the Air Force, he developed some emotional issues that continued through the years. She said she and her husband spent time since that period trying to be sensitive to him and help him. She said some of the issues made it difficult for him in work environments and he eventually went on disability. However, he did do odd jobs for many years and almost any type of wood working project.
She said she is so discouraged that there is not more help for those who suffer through emotional issues like what Danny encountered. In lieu of flowers, the family named Centerstone in Alton as the recipients for the memorial gifts. Anyone wishing to give in his memory can still do so to Centerstone, Flo said.
“It is almost impossible for 
people who have mental and emotional issues and need help to get help,” she said. “Danny was hospitalized many times. I am very sensitive to people who need help with these kinds of issues.”
Flo said there should be more state and federal funding to assist places like Centerstone who provide considerable help to families.
“There are so many people out there who have no place to go to get help,” she said.
She encouraged people to support institutions like Centerstone and to not turn a blind eye to those who need help. She also said she hopes one day society changes where proper state and federal funding to support treatment centers increases.
In the future, it is likely that Flo, always one to speak her mind, will crusade in Danny’s memory to help others best she can who encounter similar problems.
