By Jeremy Sollars
The family of Yangan identity and former Test umpire Lou Rowan – who has died aged 91 – has released a statement following his passing.
The statement said Mr Rowan passed away “peacefully” last Friday 3 February at Warwick Hospital.
“Lou Rowan’s umpiring career spanned 26 International Test matches and also the inaugural One Day International game,” the family statement said.
“Between 1963 and 1972 he witnessed some of the game’s great leaders, great players and great characters.
“With Col Egar, Lou Rowan formed one of the most successful umpiring combinations known to cricket.
“They umpired 19 tests together.
“He umpired the controversial 1970/71 Test Match between Australia and England where the English captain Ray Illingworth led his team to ‘walk off’.
“Lou was a founding member of the Queensland Umpire’s Association and for 22 years he was a board member of the Brisbane Cricket Ground Trust.”
His family described Lou as “a highly respected and principled police officer, renowned for conducting himself with unswerving honesty and integrity beginning his service in 1948”.
“He served the Queensland Police Force for 32 years,” they said.
“During that time Lou worked statewide in regional and city areas.
“He also worked on transfer with the New South Wales and Victoria Police. He retired with the rank of Inspector on 3 August, 1980.
“Lou was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, in 1925.
“He married Isabella Zackrisen in 1954 at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Warwick and had a family of eight children.
“Lou passed away at the age of 91 and is survived by his eight children – Janelle, Margaret, Annette, Peter, Stephen, Bernadette and Philip, 21 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, his beloved sisters Win and Noreen and his brother Reg.
A Latin Requiem Mass will be held for Lou Rowan at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Warwick.
Details to come.
