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It’s not for everyone, being a helicopter pilot. For James Marshall Rowen, who grew up in Menlo Park and Atherton, it was a childhood dream that he made come true.
On location in Panama with his commercial license, Mr. Rowen ferried members of the TV crew for the program “Survivor,” and he was aiming for South Africa and a job flying over game preserves to monitor wildlife populations, his mother Suzanne Rowen said in an interview.
That part of his dreams will not come to pass. Mr. Rowen died peacefully at his home in Atherton on Dec. 6, relatives said. He was 32.
A memorial service for Mr. Rowen is set for Saturday, Jan. 9.
Mr. Rowen attended Phillips Brooks School in Menlo Park and Crystal Springs Uplands School, and graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School in 1996.
At M-A, he played soccer and baseball and liked sailing. He also liked to help other people, his mother said. He attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, but left school to pursue helicopter work, she said.
“He was a natural pilot,” and the helicopter’s multi-directional capabilities challenged and interested him, his mother said. “Blending all of that was his passion,” she said. “He could just do it. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to make that his career.”
“His passing reminds us that life is short and is to be lived to its fullest,” family members said in a statement. “His life, though brief, was full and meaningful. His absence in our lives is fully apparent.”
In addition to his mother, Mr. Rowen is survived by his father Steven of Atherton; and his sisters, Elizabeth of San Francisco and Stephanie of Menlo Park.
The Jan. 9 memorial service begins at 3 p.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 468 Grand St. in Redwood City.
The Rowen family asks that anyone with thoughts and stories about their son to write to JamesRowenLegacy@gmail.com
The family also requests that donations in memory of Mr. Rowen be made to The Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation at 550 Ridgewood Road in Maplewood, NJ 07040. The foundation’s Web site is www.jbrf.org.