There was a sunniness about Curtis Rowe.
He listened to “Happy” by Pharell Williams every day on the train and bus from Berwyn to the Embassy Suites hotel off the Magnificent Mile, where he worked in housekeeping.
His colleagues knew when he arrived from the smell of the Salisbury steak or ribs that he’d reheat in the microwave for breakfast.
It made them smile, like most interactions with Mr. Rowe did.
“He was the only guy in a housekeeping department of all women, and he was a gentleman, the uncle of the crew, the father,” said his colleague Maranda Bradford.
Mr. Rowe seemed to connect with people, however brief the encounter.
“He talked to everybody, from catering staff to the front desk and food and beverage people,” said his colleague Teresa Joans. “The delivery guys even knew Curtis, and the guys who water the plants. He’d speak to everybody, always smiling, and knew their names like it was his duty. Even the temps who didn’t speak English, Curtis knew Spanish and would speak to them.”
One endearing foible: He just could not center the pillows on a bed. They were always skewed to whichever side he was standing on.
“And he had nicknames for everybody,” Joans said. “Mine was Sweet T.”
Mr. Rowe died March 4 from natural causes, according to his family. He was 62.
About 25 colleagues from various departments at the hotel attended his funeral. Many of them chipped in to help cover funeral expenses.
“One of my favorite memories of Curtis was how he would always stop by my office to visit my candy dish,” said Ann Gundrum, the hotel’s director of human resources. “He always needed a piece of chocolate after lunch. No matter how busy the day was, he made it a point to check in and share a smile with his contagious sense of humor.”
Mr. Rowe had worked at the hotel since 2021, but colleagues said it seemed like he’d been there longer.
A plaque will be erected at the hotel in his honor, Gundrum said.
“He was the most positive person you would ever meet,” said his wife, Alvita Tabb-Rowe. “He always felt knowledge and reading and sharing information was the only way people could succeed.
“He worked hard, and I made dinner for him every night, big meals like it was like Thanksgiving almost, everything from ribs and turkey to meatloaf and mashed potatoes. And he’d take leftovers to work for breakfast. I loved cooking but haven’t been able to touch stove since he passed.”
Mr. Rowe loved the Bulls — especially Coby White because of his generosity with the basketball.
Mr. Rowe was born April 21, 1963, to Helen and Gordon Rowe. His father was a mechanical engineer and his mother a teacher’s assistant.
He attended Von Steuben High School on the North Side.
He previously worked in home health care, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago and for the Kmart Corporation.
“I think about him as one of God’s angels that was here on earth that we didn’t know was an angel,” said Mr. Rowe’s mother-in-law Augustine Tabb.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his sons Nikko and Ricco and three grandchildren.
Services have been held.