Justin Rowley, 21, young diabetic promoted Camp Kudzu’s growth

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By Shane Blatt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Since he was a child, Justin Rowley found happiness at a camp for kids with Type 1 diabetes.

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Justin Rowley had been a part of Camp Kudzu — first as a camper and eventually as a counselor — since the camp for insulin-dependent children began in June 2000.

Family photo Justin Rowley had been a part of Camp Kudzu — first as a camper and eventually as a counselor — since the camp for insulin-dependent children began in June 2000.

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He was part of Camp Kudzu — first as a camper and eventually as a counselor — since the camp for insulin-dependent children began in June 2000, when he was 12.

“He felt so normal because there were over 100 children pricking their fingers ... and learning to give their shots on their own,” said his mother, Dr. Avril Beckford of Atlanta. “He felt he had found his friends and another family, the Camp Kudzu family.”

In fact, he was so passionate about Camp Kudzu that in 2002, then 14-year-old Rowley and his best friend, Katherine Phillips, biked 70 miles, from the state Capitol to the camp’s Rutledge location, to raise money for scholarships. The three-day trip fetched more than $12,000.

“When he went [to camp], he found challenges far greater than Type I diabetes,” said Dr. Beckford, who was the camp’s pediatrician a few years ago. “He found children who were poor and who didn’t have support systems. So he said, ‘Every child with diabetes should have a chance to go to Camp Kudzu, even if they can’t afford it.’ ”

Justin Daniel Rowley, 21, formerly of Atlanta, died Aug. 19 in Denver. A private service was recently held in Colorado. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to Camp Kudzu.

Born in 1988, young Rowley graduated from Ben Franklin Academy in Atlanta in 2006. Afterward, he moved to Colorado and was attending Metropolitan State College of Denver. A sophomore studying human services, his ambition was to become a youth counselor.

For the past two years, he was doing just that, serving on the counseling staff at Camp Kudzu.

“He was very dedicated and full of love in what he was doing,” said Alex Allen, Camp Kudzu’s executive director. “He appreciated fully what a diabetes camp does. Diabetes becomes a very heavy burden for a kid, so at camp, that burden is shared.”

Fellow diabetic and friend Drew Bryant met Mr. Rowley at the camp in 2000. In those days, it had fewer than 100 kids. Camp Kudzu currently has more than 500 youngsters ages 8 to 16 over three one-week camps in Rutledge and Cleveland.

Mr. Bryant remembers Mr. Rowley as easy-going, down-to-earth and “pretty much friends with everyone.” And at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, Mr. Rowley delivered big smiles along with big bear hugs, he said.

Mr. Rowley loved being a camper, then a counselor, for different reasons, Mr. Bryant said.

“They’re totally different parts of the spectrum,” he said. “You go from doing everything fun to helping the campers. He loved being a staff member and helping out the kids. They look up to you.”

Dr. Beckford’s younger son, Derek, 19, is also diabetic and a counselor at Kudzu. “[The camp has] given both our boys a gift of life, and we’re extraordinarily grateful,” she said.

In addition to Dr. Beckford, Mr. Rowley is survived by his father, Dr. Lawrence Rowley of Atlanta; his brother, Derek Rowley, a student at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.; and his life partner, Shawn Schwarz of Denver.