Jeannine Row, 76: Shared love of flowers with many

The art of arranging flowers was not lost on Jeannine Row. She knew the perfect arrangement needed elements such as symmetry and contrast, and that the blooms had to be conditioned, even reinforced if need be.

She didn’t just put flowers in a vase and walk away.

“She taught us how to love flowers and bring them into the home and enjoy them,” said Stephanie Row Robertson, a daughter who lives in Powder Springs. “She absolutely made flowers fun.”

Emily Jeannine Frapart Row, called Jeannine by all, of Marietta, died Friday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital after a massive cerebral hemorrhage. She was 76. Her body was cremated, and a memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. James Episcopal Church, Marietta. Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home & Crematory, Marietta is in charge of the arrangements.

Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., Mrs. Row was destined to be a flower lover. Her name came from the song “Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time),” said Tom Row, her husband of more than 56 years. Mrs. Row’s mother was a flower lover and took her daughter to many flower shows. When Mrs. Row had daughters of her own, the tradition continued.

“She taught me horticulture, how to plant things in the ground and keep them alive,” Mrs. Robertson said. “And she would have me enter my plants, not hers, in the flower shows, so I was very proud when I got my blue ribbon.”

Mrs. Row was an active member of several garden clubs and judged countless flower shows. In the mid-1970s, she enrolled in flower show school in Warner Robins so she could become a flower show judge. By 1977, she was an accredited flower show judge and she continued her studies and later became a master flower show judge, said Joyce Green, a dear friend and neighbor.

When Mr. and Mrs. Row moved into their home in the Somerset subdivision, one of the first things she did was plant rose bushes in the backyard.

“All of my friends loved those roses,” said daughter Jeannine Row Totzke, of Bridgman, Mich. “And when I bought my home, she did the same for me.”

Mrs. Row went into semi-retirement around 2007, but still maintained a busy schedule and memberships in a couple of garden clubs.

“At the height of her activity, she was the president of the Garden Club of Georgia and a few other things,” her husband said. “So this was how she slowed down.”

As president of the Garden Club of Georgia, from 1999 until 2001, she introduced a traveling program for 11 and 12-year-olds, which exposed them to nature. The activity, called From the Mountains to the Sea, helped the club win a national award of excellence from the National Council of State Garden Clubs.