Stephen Edwin Rowe

Stephen Edwin Rowe, age 87, of Orlando, Florida passed away on Saturday, June 3, 2023 at his home in Orlando.

Ed was born on October 22, 1935 in Norwalk, CT, the only child born to his late parents, Stephen R. and Lucy (Hazian) Rowe. On November 27, 1965, he married the former Sandra McHugh.

He is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Sandra Rowe of Orlando; two daughters, Diane Martinelli and her husband, David, of Orlando, and Catherine Cali of Mission Viejo, CA; and eight grandchildren, Isabella Martinelli, Lucca Martinelli, Anteo Martinelli, Sofia Martinelli, Talia Martinelli, Augustine Cali, Sarina Cali, and Andrew Cali.

Ed was born and passed away on the East Coast but he spent 82 of his 87 years living in Southern California. When his family moved from CT to CA in 1936, the impact of the Great Depression was still being felt. His family was seeking work and opportunity out West. It was clear early on that Ed had an exceptional intelligence. He excelled in school not only academically but also in music and sports. He played tennis at a high level, the soprano saxophone as well as violin, was a master chess player, as well as a champion bowler. He attended USC under scholarship through the Navy ROTC and received his degree in Mechanical Engineering-Industrial Sequence. He later received his Masters Degree at UCLA in Engineering. After graduation from undergrad, Ed wanted to go into aerospace engineering but there was a lull at the time in hiring so he looked for other opportunities. He became aware that the City of Los Angeles Traffic Department was trying to build a team of professional engineers and joined the staff in 1957. He rose up the ranks and eventually served in the top position of General Manager of the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) retiring after a distinguished 35 year career there.

Ed's primary interest & challenge once he came to LADOT was in developing an automated traffic signal system that could use modern and emerging detection, communications, and controller technology to automatically respond to fluctuating traffic flows. Ed was able to make his dream come true as he rose up the ranks. The XXIIIrd Olympiad hosted by Los Angeles in 1984 was where his dream would be put to the test. After years of design, testing, and funding, ATSAC (Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system) became the first system in the nation to extensively monitor flows and automatically respond to generate and download new timing plans. Under the favorable reputation of ATSAC and Ed's leadership, new systems were added all over the City of Los Angeles. He and his colleagues dubbed ATSAC and its success the "Greatest Project in the Western Hemisphere". ATSAC still serves the City of Los Angeles today. Ed was way ahead of his time and was a legend in the transportation industry…. Visualizing, designing, and building systems that would make everyday life better for all citizens. Because of his expertise and success, he was sought after by local authorities all over the country and world to assist in traffic systems and designs particularly when cities experienced large influxes of people due to special events (i.e., Olympics, concerts, conventions, Academy Awards, etc.).

At the National level, Ed was active with the Transportation Research Board providing advice to the Federal Government in how to invest in transportation funding. In 1990 he was the recipient of ITE's Theodore M. Matson award. In 1992 LADOT won an award for Innovations in State and Local Government from Harvard University. He was a Registered Professional Engineer and was part of many professional organizations including TRB, ITS America, and ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers). In 1991 he published the results & success of ATSAC as a single author paper in the IEEE, which is the largest technical professional society in the world. A single author paper in this capacity is an usual and prestigious accomplishment. He was well known in the transportation engineering community not only in Southern CA, but around the country and world.

After retiring from LADOT, Ed started a company partnering with an industry executive (Craig Gardner) and called it "Gardner-Rowe". After a few years, he joined Odetics, a company in Orange County with a few different divisions in technology. He wanted to get back into "Transportation" so Ed was hired to help facilitate a new division calling it "Odetics ITS". Odetics ITS was eventually rebranded as Iteris and went public in 2004 at an exciting ceremony on the floor of NYSE. Ed became GM of a new division called PTI focusing on "traveler Information". In 2007 with his dear friend Abbas Mohaddes as the CEO of Iteris, Ed stayed on as Senior V.P. until about 2014. He tried several times to retire but his friend Abbas would talk him out of retiring, loving his association and counsel with Ed!

Ed had a love for learning… He was consummately curious. That curiosity was contagious as there was always more to discover. It also made him both interesting to talk to and interested in talking to others. He could talk to anyone about any topic… he almost always deferred to what they were interested in. But what a treat it was when he found someone who really loved to talk about his most keen interests of which God and culture were at the top. He was a loyal and faithful family man… married to his wife Sandy for 57 years, he never wavered. He will be greatly missed by his family and many friends and colleagues.

For details on Viewing, Visitation, Graveside, and Celebration of Life for Stephen Edwin Rowe please contact Diane Martinelli at Diane.martinelli@cru.org

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