Born to Freeman Rowe and Ruth (Anthony) Rowe in Litchfield Corners, Maine, Andrew Rowe struck out on his own at age 12 and later enlisted in the army at the beginning of world war II and eventually was sent to OCS and became a pilot, flying B-24s, B-25s, and B-17s over Europe in World War II as well as C-47s in Korea.
After the war he went to school at Fresno State University and completed a masters in mathematics with a minor in English, and taught High School briefly at Roosevelt High School in Fresno before starting a job at Fresno City College teaching trigonometry and calculus, where he worked until he retired in 1991. He was an avid tennis player and was said to be a "wiley" competitor.