Rose Margaret Plowman's Obituary
Rose Margaret Plowman of Ashburn, Va., died peacefully at home before dawn Saturday, June 21. Her decade-long struggle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, an incurable neurological disease that left her fully aware but unable to see, speak, move, or swallow without choking, was over at last. She was 77.
She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Edward E. Plowman, a long-time religion newswriter and former Baptist pastor. Also, by her four children: twins Gail, of LaJolla, Calif., and Gary of Fairfax, Va., Beth Barclay, and J. Philip, and four grandchildren: Alex and Aaron Barclay, and Jessica and Andrew Plowman, all of Ashburn. Also by her brother, Philip Orazi, Jr., of Lilburn, Ga.
Rose was born to Lena and Philip Orazi Sr. in Bristol, Pa., Sept. 13, 1930, the youngest of seven children. Her grandparents, immigrants from Italy, cofounded the Presbyterian Church of the Savior in Bristol. As a young pre-teen, she joined a nearby Baptist church where she and her future husband met.
Rose attended Bob Jones University and Philadelphia Bible Institute.
She and Ed worked together in children's, outreach, and broadcast ministries. They married in 1952. Rose meanwhile had foregone her own college plans and became a payroll bookkeeper to help Ed get through Wheaton College and Dallas Seminary. (At Wheaton, she commuted to NBC Television in Chicago, where for a year she personally handed TV host Hugh Downs his paycheck.)
Following seminary graduation in 1958, the couple served churches in suburban San Diego and San Francisco, where all four of their children were born. In 1970, Ed became an editor of Christianity Today magazine, and the family moved to Annandale, Va. They settled into a Christian & Missionary Alliance church in Arlington. Rose worked as church secretary during school hours. She later worked as a legal secretary for several law firms in Fairfax and Washington.
In her final 10 years before retirement, she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in both domestic and foreign assignments. Ed in the 1980s worked for evangelist Billy Graham in overseas ministry, and Rose took short-term leaves to join him as a co-worker for large international conferences in Amsterdam. With Ed's return to religion reporting in 1988, the couple joined Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, Va.
In later years, she took up afghan crocheting and cross-stitching.
Her framed cross-stitch art, emphasizing farm, Amish, and religious themes, adorn the homes of family members and friends.
The couple moved to Ashburn in 2004 for caregiving reasons and to be closer to family. In Ashburn, they attended Christ Community Church and Ashburn Presbyterian Church.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, July 13, 3:00 p.m., at Immanuel Bible Church, 6911 Braddock Rd. (Corner of Braddock and Backlick Rd.), Springfield, VA 22151-3602 www.immanuelbible.net.
The Rev. Cary Johnson, Capital Hospice chaplain and pastor of New Life Church in Sterling, will take part in the service. The Rev. Steve Holley of Immanuel will officiate.
In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Mrs. Plowman's memory to CurePSP. Online: www.curepsp.org or mail:
Exec.Plaza III, 11350 McCormick Rd., St.#906 , Hunt Valley, MD 21031.
At Mrs. Plowman's request, her brain was donated for research into the cause and a possible cure for PSP and similar Parkinsonian diseases.
Final arrangements by Loudoun Funeral Chapels, Leesburg, Va.
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