Dexter Richards Rowell ’64
Dexter Richards Rowell ’64 was born December 31, 1939, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died March 4 at his home in Playa del Coco, Costa Rica. After graduating from Salisbury School (Connecticut) Dexter enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served two years in Korea before entering Dartmouth with an NROTC scholarship. In his first two years in Hanover, he participated for one year each in football, crew, lacrosse, and wrestling. Majoring in economics, he was also active in both Undergraduate and Interdormitory Councils and became a revered brother in Psi Upsilon fraternity. Upon graduation, Dexter was commissioned a Navy ensign and served aboard the aircraft carrier Forrestal. He resigned as a Navy lieutenant and earned a Ph.D. in econometrics from Wharton School of Business. His career was teaching at several universities. An accomplished sailor, he sailed across the Atlantic twice. Dexter retired in 2000 and moved to Florida to care for his ailing father, who passed away in 2002. Dex lived in the house designed by his father until 2010 then drove to Costa Rica with family possessions and two beloved dogs, settling in Playa del Coco. He met Marylin Ruiz on a bus in San José. They married in 2015 and had a son, Amando, in 2018. In addition to Marylin and Amando, Dexter is survived by sisters Diane Rowell Gregory (Bruce) and Christine Rowell Hawkins (H. Clay Hawkins ’65), half sister Jenny McCallion, stepbrothers John and James ’63 Irvin, and several nieces and nephews.
