RUMFORD – Dr. Linwood M. Rowe, M.D., 89, died peacefully Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, at the Rumford Community Hospital after a brief illness.

He was born in Rumford May 10, 1918, the son of the late Dr. William T. Rowe and Marion (Littlefield) Rowe of Portland.

He attended Rumford schools, Phillips Exeter Academy, Bowdoin College and Cornell Medical School, where he received his M.D. prior to entering the Army in 1943.

In college, he held a number of state titles in track events and was particularly well-known for the high hurdles. In the service, he was a captain in the medical corps in the U.S. Army and served in the Philippines. On release from the Army in 1946, he returned to Rumford and worked with his father Dr. Wm. T. Rowe, M.D., on Penobscot Street as one of the respected medical practitioners in the community.

He married Jane M. Gordon of Plattsburgh, N.Y., and together they raised six children.

In 1961, he withdrew from general practice after delivering 1,500 of the babies in the town as well as making countless friends and house-calls. He left to start a residency in radiology at the Maine Medical Center in Portland. On his return from Portland in 1964, he was head of the radiology department at Rumford Community Hospital for the next 20 years. During his life in Rumford, he was very active in the community helping Dollars for Scholars, the Hope School, high school athletic programs and others.

After his retirement, he moved to Worthley Pond in Peru to spend more time gardening, sailing, puttering and was active in the Worthley Pond association preserving the water quality.

He is survived by immediate family, Linwood Jr. of Severna Park, Md., married to Cynthia Ronan of Rumford, Margaret Pillsbury of Augusta, married to George Pillsbury of Augusta, James G. of Miami, Fla., married to Janet Hickey of Mexico, Martha M. of West Rockport, married to John Meyer, M.D., of Rockport, Kathleen Perkins of Hoboken, N.J., and Susan Caine of Nazareth, Pa., married to Edward Caine of Leavittown, N.Y.; brother, John of Champlain. N.Y.; and sister, Sally Fraser of Williamsburg, Va.; his favorite grandchildren are Linwood M. Rowe III, Michelle Perlette, Alexis Pillsbury, Matthew Pillsbury, James Rowe, Thomas Rowe and Kevin J. Rowe (dec); his great-grandchildren are Jase Lee Ronan Rowe and John Michael Perlette.

He was predeceased by his wife, Jane Gordon Rowe in 1989; brother, William; and sisters, Elizabeth, Catherine and Barbara.