Gregory Alan Rowe - His Life Remembered
First Breath February 1, 1959 - Final Breath January 5, 2026

Gregory Alan Rowe (Gree-goree, as he chose to pronounce it in the latter part of his life) was born on February 1, 1959, on Dena’ina traditional territory in Anchorage, 29 days after Alaska became a state. This story of Greg Rowe’s life and how he came to be is part of “the Great Remembering” and, in itself, a Restoration of Balance. To get a glimpse of Greg's life, spirit, and energy, one must try to digest the histories that shaped him…His biological Mother is the late Rosa Marie Bennett Mulkeit Schlosser, born Yupi’k and Deg Xit’an in 1929 through and into the captivity of colonizers. She survived the horrific terrors and subsequent intergenerational traumas of the boarding school era. She was the Captain of the Wolverine in Bristol Bay, a hair stylist, a mother of 9 children, she lived in Dillingham, Alaska, and was a member of Curyung Tribal Council.Greg’s maternal grandmother is the late Zoja Archi Matea, Yupi’k and Deg Xit’an, who was born in 1902, a stolen sister, who colonizers took into child slavery/marriage during her teens, she survived “The Great Death” of Alaska Native peoples, and she is the mother of eight children.Greg’s biological maternal grandfather is the late Angus McDougall of Clan MacDougall of the Hebrides and Western Highlands of Scotland. However, Rosa was raised by and knew her Father to be a French-Canadian miner, the late John William Bennett Sr.Greg’s biological father is the late William Edward “Billy” Gurtler, Tl’eeyegge Hʉt’aane (Koyukon Athabascan,) Bedzeyh Te Hʉt'anne (Caribou Clan,) of the Yookkene Hʉt’aane Band (From the Central Yukon River) of Nughutle Gheelenh Denh (Ruby, Alaska.) Billy was an Alaskan Scout in World War II. He served in the Alaskan Air Command and the US Navy at Pearl Harbor. Billy was a captain of a fishing boat in Bristol Bay, a special-forces-trained survivalist, and an MMIP only months after Greg’s birth.Greg’s paternal Grandmother is the late Mendzakenyatł (Agnes Bogie Gurtler,), a traditional Medicine Woman, who was Tl’eeyegge Hʉt’aane (Koyukon Athabascan) Bedzeyh Te Hʉt'anne (Caribou Clan,) of the Yookkene Hʉt’aane Band (From the Central Yukon River). His paternal grandfather is the late E.O. Gurtler, from Germany.At 3 days old, Gregory was adopted in Anchorage, Alaska, by his late Mother, Eva Lee Powers Rowe, of Scotts Hill, Tennessee, and his late Dad, Arch Rowe, of Hastings, Oklahoma, and Scotts Hill, Tennessee. His biological Mom Rosa, adamantly told them to “take him fishing, fishing is in his blood.” This was her most sincere request to his new parents.His Dad Arch was a WWII Veteran, and the man who, when we won, climbed the pole to cut down the Nazi flag in Nuremberg, Germany. Our family still has this flag, and Greg wants you to know we would all do well to remember what they sacrificed for and why, so that history doesn't repeat itself on this soil.Greg was, in his own words, “I am a legend in my own mind.” He was a Tribal Citizen of the Native Village of Ruby, a Submarine Service Veteran, a great poet and artist, a lover of fine arts and blues music, a healer, a Big Spirit, a cannabis connoisseur, a lover of coffee, and infinitely more.He served in the Cold War in the Navy from 1977-1981, with sub school at the submarine base at New London, CT, and he served at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i, as an IC2 on the USS Sam Houston (SSBN-609) 1977-1978, USS Pogy (SSN-647) 1978-1980, and USS Swordfish (SSN-579) 1981, Blue Crew.  As such, he was deeply connected, in spirit, for the rest of his life to the traditional lands and waters of Hawai’i. The memories of his time in the Service stayed with him throughout his days, and after 10 years out, he opened up about it and often shared his cherished memories with others.Greg chose to work in a way that allowed him to travel long distances while enjoying and sharing the finer delicacies of life. For many years, he traveled the depths of the Tennessee River and beyond, professionally diving for mussel shells, making lifelong friends and memories along the way. He was enthralled by climbing to the highest heights in cooling-tower construction; he would gladly rappel off any cliff you put him on; he would explore the depths of mysterious caves, but he absolutely and consistently refused to ever jump off of or out of anything of considerable height.As a child, he attended Judson Missionary Baptist Church in Scotts Hill, TN, with his Mother Eva Lee. As a young adult, he attended the home church of Gina (King) Hart, his former wife and the mother of his daughter, at Red Walnut Church of Christ in Bath Springs, TN. In midlife, his beliefs evolved into an Ancient Hebraic faith. Then, in his later years, as he matured, his beliefs evolved further as he returned to his roots of traditional Indigenous animistic spiritual beliefs, and he grew into who he was, a Dyen (commonly known as a Shaman).He had strong spiritual gifts; most of the time, he was kind and loving, with a very Big heart, and he was often known to give away anything and everything he ever owned. Like his Great Great Grandfather, Yekon, the one they called “Red Shirt” (Koyukon Athabascan), he was a dreamer, a seer, and a traveler in both the physical and the spirit worlds.For many years of his adult life in Tennessee, Greg lived in a remote area, in his steamhouse at the mouth of a cave, on the edge of a valley, on the ancient, sacred, and traditional homelands of the Cherokee, Shawnee, Chickasaw, and Yuchi Tribes. He wholeheartedly and spiritually tended to this sacred, multigenerational, multicultural, traditional trade route and archeoastronomy site in what is now called the Lower Lick Creek area, near where it flows into the Tennessee River, in Linden, Tennessee.He kept the fire circle there for many years, hosting numerous visitors, sharing stories, poems, memories, friendship, and food. Friends and even strangers, who would soon become friends, came from great distances to sit around the fire and share with him. Many people throughout his life opened up and shared deeply with him because they knew he could be trusted to hold such a space for them. He chose to rest his head on a log, not a bed, at night. He bathed in the cave spring waters and cooked meals over the open fire. Drawn to the supernatural aspects of life, at this place, he kept close council and company with the unnameable and multidimensional beings that exist.  Greg discovered his poetic gifts in his 40s, and he thoroughly enjoyed writing and serving as a vessel for YHWH and Denaahʉto’ (Great Spirit) through the rendering of his written words. If ever you had met a man who was different than all of the rest, Greg Rowe was that man. He was a wild man, a free spirit, a seer, a challenger of the status quo, a teacher to many, a seer of things and events to come, he freely received and freely shared the gift of healing touch, and he considered himself to be, for lack of a more culturally appropriate term, a Heyoka empath. He embodied that spirit well.He believed in, carried, and passed on a bloodline that holds a deep belief in Restoring Balance.  People of all walks of life were drawn to him throughout his life. He is deeply loved by his family, an abundance of friends, and his revered ancestors, among whom he has now returned, and so with travels.At seven years old, in a 2nd grade classroom at Pin Oak Elementary School in Middleburg, Tennessee, he was staring at and sent into a trance by the rain outside the window, and he had his first recalled “knowing” come to him that “when he found his biological Mom, she would have just passed.” This knowing remained strong, and to him, as a way to protect her, he never sought out to find his biological family.It wasn’t until March of 2000 that his then-13-year-old daughter felt called to find their family. She sought out and found their blood relations in Alaska, and so it was: his knowing came to be that they missed his biological mom, in this life, by one week. However deeply sad that may be, he deeply and forever cherished finding, connecting with, and eventually living, loving, learning, and laughing with his blood relations.A part of him that had always been missing had finally returned home to him, or he to it, in his heart, mind, and in his spirit. It opened to him an entirely new understanding of himself, who he was, how he was, why he was the way he was, and his life undoubtedly made more sense to him.After 2000, he traveled to Dillingham, Alaska, often in the summers to visit with family and friends. He commercial fished for Salmon with his uncles, brothers, cousins, nieces, and nephews in Bristol Bay. He traveled upriver (Nushagak) to go look around, setnet at Kanakanak, explored the lakes, and caught his first moose with his Uncle Johnny Bennett. He picked berries with his Aunties, he laughed and learned with his brothers, sisters, and cousins, and he steamed with his family for the first time when he was 40 years old.One summer, he surprised his family by showing up unannounced, with his pet Macaw parrot in tow; his longtime, long-range traveling buddy, “Ralph, Ralph, Mouth of the South.” Children loved and were drawn to Greg’s gentle spirit, friends cherished him, women adored him, and if you really knew him, you loved him. At a towering 6 feet 4 inches, he had an indomitable spirit that turned heads and changed lives in every room that he entered.In 2021, at 62 years old, he chose to leave Tennessee, move, and return to his traditional homelands of Alaska, where his spirit called him to be with family, the land, animals, and waters, as a return to his roots, where he felt his body and blood belonged. He lived in the Benti traditional homelands in Nenana, Alaska, then moved to be near his daughter on the Gakona and Gulkana Ahtna traditional lands. As he drew closer to the next life, he, out of necessity, moved to Dena’ina traditional homelands in Anchorage, Alaska where he was born, and where things would ultimately come full circle on January 5, 2026 at 1:55am.  He had been ready and excited for the transition for many years in his mind, body, and spirit.He remains in blood and spirit with his only child, his loving daughter, Shayna Gurtler Rowe, and in our traditional way, his beloved grandson, Luke Schlosser, both of Bunker Hill, Linden, Tennessee. Those left on this earthly plane to love and miss him are also his sister, Wanda (Monty) O’Connor of Marcola, OR, brother Jean Schlosser Sr. of Dillingham, AK, sister Gene’e Schlosser of Junction City, OR, brother John Bennett Jr. of Dillingham, AK, and twin sisters Rhonda (Donald) Smith of Henderson, TN, and Shonda Rowe Little (Tony Clenney) of Henderson, TN. Nieces and nephews, Bruce Womack; R.K. and Brian Cobban, Darby and Jenna O’Connor; LaJan Lee, A.J. and Heather Muck; Lil Jean, Sydnie, Branden, Craig, and Michael Schlosser; Cheyanne, Landon, Rosa, Skyler, and Brandie Schlosser; Dillion and Max Bennett; Brandilyn Hart; Logan and Dylan Little, an abundance of great nieces and nephews, and someone he considered to be like another daughter to him, Christeana Bailey.He was preceded into the next world by his biological parents Rosa Bennett Schlosser and William “Billy” Gurtler; his parents Archie Aubrey Rowe and Eva Lee Powers Rowe; sister Brenda Mulkeit, brother Clifford Mulkeit, brother Eugene Schlosser Jr., and two brothers that he never got to meet, Bruce and Craig Mulkeit, all of Dillingham, Alaska; maternal Uncles Johnny Bennett Sr. and Alex Bennett Sr., maternal Aunties Sophie Niver, Milania, Lesa, Marilyn, and Pom; paternal Uncles Alfred Gurtler Sr., Grover Gurtler, Bob Gurtler, Jack Gurtler; paternal Aunties Alice Gurtler Larson and Adella Gurtler Johansen. In Tennessee, he was also, with great influence, reared by late Aunts Beatrice Powers Johnson, Pearl Powers Johnson, and Verdean Powers Johnson. Grandparents in Oklahoma, the late Archie Sylvester Rowe and Eula Estell Fountain Rowe, and in Tennessee, the late Joe and Henryetta Johnson Powers of Scotts Hill, Tennessee.For many years, Greg was clear and resolute about his final wishes: he wanted his friends and family to celebrate his life, be in the circle, play the blues (specifically, Coco Montoya’s ‘Nothing but Love’), fire up a joint, share together, and laugh together in his honor, because laughter is the best medicine. He loved to both laugh and to cry.At an undetermined future date, celebrations of his life will be held in Alaska, Tennessee, and Hawai’i, but for now, wherever you are, stand in your circles, play his songs, speak together about the shared memories, and send him ‘nothing but love’ as he travels on.Memories, photos, videos, stories, and memorials for the travel of his remains to his most beloved places can be sent to his daughter, Shayna Rowe, at shayna@restorationofbalance.org or 2265 Bunker Hill Road, Linden, TN 37096.

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Gregory Rowe Obituary | Cremation Society of Alaska