Annalee Saphira Rowe

Annalee Saphira Rowe, 14, of Pocatello, passed away at home on May 9, 2022. She had battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia for the last 2.5 years.

Annalee was born on April 29, 2008 in Idaho Falls, ID at Mountain View Hospital. She arrived 5 days past her due date and didn’t even want to come when she was induced, forcing an emergency c-section. That was our introduction to our sassy, stubborn, amazing daughter!

As a young child, Annalee was friendly and inquisitive. She loved to learn and started reading before kindergarten. In 1st grade, her beloved teacher, Mrs. Finch, saw her potential and arranged for her to go to 2nd grade during Language Arts. Annalee developed a love of reading. Her parents would try to get her to turn off her light and go to sleep, but secretly they were pleased to see her trying to read after she’d been sent to bed. As she got older, Annalee loved the Warriors series, about clans of feral cats. She also enjoyed the Fablehaven series, Harry Potter, The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson, Wings of Fire, and the Eragon books by Paolini, which contain the blue dragon Saphira, from which Annalee got her middle name. We knew she would be fierce and beautiful, and she was.

As the oldest child, she quickly became a responsible example for her three younger siblings. She got annoyed by their noise and antics at times, but she loved them dearly, and even correctly predicted their genders before their birth. At four years old she shared a room with her 1-year-old brother Vander. Her parents heard him crying over the baby monitor, but before they could go check on him, little Annalee’s voice said, “Do you want to say a prayer, Bud?” And she helped him calm down. When Bellana was born, Annalee (5) helped her mom make a special butterfly baby blanket for her. Zaylia was born when Annalee was 7. Like a little mother, she always wanted to hold baby Zaylia, calling her “Zaybia,” a cross of “baby” and her name. She planned parties with her siblings, helped them with their homework, played games inside and outside, and rounded them up for mini skits and plays, like The Three Little Pigs and Baldylocks and the Three Bears.

At 10 years old, she was raring for freedom; she would ride her bike all around Pocatello with her brother or her best friend, SuCina, visiting the pet store or buying candy at the gas station. She had a talent for music, though she practiced the piano only grudgingly. But at piano recitals she was brave; if she made a mistake, she didn’t get flustered, she kept playing. She fulfilled her Grandma ‘Beek’s dreams when she showed a love of horses. She was fearless as she rode them, going faster than most people were comfortable with. Fuego, a gift from her Aunt Jessie, was her special horse. The trail ride she went on with him was a special memory. She loved swimming more than just about anything, and would have swam every day, if she could have. She loved her ancient dog, Tavi, her new puppy, Tenzin, and her pet rat Peanut. She liked building Lego sets and playing Minecraft or Fortnite with her siblings. She loved the Marvel movies, watching every movie and series in order. Her favorite character was Rocket Raccoon. She watched nearly every series of Star Trek, most of Stargate: SG-1, and inexplicably, 5 seasons of Supernanny.

Annalee was excited for middle school, thrilled to be choosing her own electives. She signed up for Percussion in the school band. But her first semester of 6th grade did not go as planned. She suffered from terrible leg pain and fatigue; she would get exhausted just walking up the stairs of the school. After months of tests, she was diagnosed with ALL (leukemia) on December 20, 2019. She spent that Christmas in the hospital.

Assured that this was a type of cancer that was easily cured, she embarked on the 2.5 year treatment plan. In March, she went back to school for two days before everything shut down for Covid. The pandemic made many parts of her treatment more complicated and ended most fun programs normally offered for kids with cancer. But Annalee pushed through, dealing with home school, pills, chemo, steroids, losing her hair, long travel, and countless pokes and procedures. Our hearts were broken when, in 2021, after just a year of treatment, her cancer came back even stronger. Unbeknownst to us at that time, she received a spiritual witness from God that she would not be healed. But to do her best to prolong her life, she endured a bone marrow transplant, more hair loss, 5 months away from her dad and siblings, a gruesome round of CAR-T cell therapy, more chemo, and a tortuous, near-death experience after her heart went out of rhythm and she had to receive CPR and be shocked back.

When we received the news in March 2022 that her cancer could not be cured, Annalee did not cry. She said, resignedly, “I knew it.” And she shared with us her spiritual experience from last year. In the last 8 weeks of her life, she cried many times from pain, but never from fear. She knew where she was going after she died, and she knew she would be with us again someday. She fit in as many experiences as she could, including a Wish Trip to Disney World, driving lessons with her parents (she loved the feeling of independence!), a wonderful 4-hour 14th birthday party at Outer Limits with family and friends, priceless family pictures, and daily dabbles with her personal cotton candy machine and snow cone machine. Near the end, she wrote heartfelt letters to each of her family members and gave her siblings matching bracelets with four hearts. She made necklaces for her parents with her fingerprint and her handwriting saying, “I will always love you.” To the end, she was looking out for others, trying to help us as she had done her whole life.

She is survived by her parents, Nathan and Sandi Rowe; brother Vander Rowe (11); sisters Bellana Rowe (8) and Zaylia Rowe (6); grandparents David and Fran Rowe of Mountain Home, ID, Ron and Lani VanderBeek of Shelley, ID, and Steven Ring of Binghamton, NY; great-grandma Joyce Ring; and many loving uncles and aunts and cousins. She was preceded in death by 10 great-grandparents, her step-grandma Maureen, and her uncle Jesse Ring and aunt Vanessa Ring.

We wish to give our profound thanks to the nurses, doctors, care coordinators, and social workers at Primary Children’s Hospital (especially Carrie Bettis and Stacey Bushell), Hands of Hope Home Health (especially Trista), Portneuf Medical Center IV Therapy (every single person), Symbii Hospice (especially Michaela, Stefney, and Todd), and Wilks Funeral Home (especially Aaron Rowbury) for their kind and compassionate care of Annalee and our family. You have helped us through the hardest time in our lives.

Annalee’s funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday May 14th at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 2300 Butte St. in Pocatello, Idaho. If attending the service, you are welcome to wear light blue, her favorite color, if you desire. A live online video link will be available at wilksfuneralhome.com for those who are unable to attend in person. A viewing will be held prior to the service from 10:00-10:45 a.m. Interment will follow the services at the Mountain View Cemetery in Pocatello.

The family is receiving donations to help with her headstone and burial through Venmo @Sandra-Rowe-14.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family online at www.wilksfuneralhome.com.