Civic Leader Named as a Woman of the Year

Carol Rowen gives hundreds of hours each year to numerous organizations. The only catch is she won’t work for a cause that just wants her name on its roster.

If she can’t jump in with both feet, she said, she won’t even get her toes wet.

So it was a surprise to no one, except the 64-year-old civic leader herself, that Rowen has been selected as a 1999 Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women. She and four other community volunteers will be honored Monday at a luncheon hosted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Friends and colleagues said Rowen--a Tarzana resident who ran for a state Senate seat in 1992--has always used her considerable energy and experience to further the causes she serves.

“We’ve worked on some very significant projects together and Carol’s been instrumental in pulling off important programs,” said former Harbor Commissioner Steve Soboroff. “She’s intense, fun, smart, focused and she’s a pleasure to be with.”

Those qualities were easy to spot during a recent tour of the Jewish Home for the Aging in Reseda. Rowen is a member of the residential center’s board of directors.

Typical of the energetic businesswoman, Rowen one moment kibitzed in Yiddish with a pair of gift shop volunteers, then the next dashed to the crafts room to check out the residents’ handiwork.

“I love this!” Rowen told a senior who was deftly knitting a sweater. Rowen then walked to a corner of the room to admire the freshly manicured nails of two women who were waiting patiently for the polish to dry.

Walking around the grounds of the residential center, Rowen brushed away tears as she recalled that several years ago the home welcomed a Polish gentile who had saved the lives of Jewish Holocaust victims. In return, the home offered the indigent man room and board, free of charge, for as long as he needed it.

“Why wouldn’t I want to be involved here?” Rowen asked. “The people here embody all that I believe in.”

Those who have worked with Rowen express similar feelings about her.

“Carol is one of the brightest, most competent, and committed people I have ever known,” said Marlene Bane, a Jewish Home for the Aging board colleague. “She’s totally committed to the community in both the business world and through her volunteer efforts. She’s a dynamo and a joy to work with.”

Rowen’s community service efforts began in the 1960s, when she was elected PTA president at her children’s North Hollywood elementary school.

She went on to serve as a commissioner for the Los Angeles County Board of Adoptions, and helped open the San Fernando Valley’s Center for Abused Children.

Among her many volunteer posts, she served as the first woman president of the San Fernando Valley Jewish Federation Council. At the council she helped create the Valley’s first Meals on Wheels program.

The mother of four also has served as a Los Angeles Harbor commissioner since 1993, a demanding volunteer post that she says often takes up to 25 hours a week.

The New York native earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from UCLA. As an undergraduate there, she met and married Marvin D. Rowen, her husband of 43 years and now a judge on the Superior Court bench in Los Angeles.

“I love getting up every single day,” Rowen said. “If you’re not involved, or you turn your back, you can’t complain. You have to stand up and say, ‘I’ll help do this.’ Even writing a letter can make a difference.”

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