A Central Oregon family is dealing with a second unexpected death in a decade, this time a brother killed in a Saharan oil field after being held hostage by terrorists.

Nearly 10 years ago, it was a son drowned in the Deschutes River.

Gordon Rowan was among the three Americans killed at the In Amenas oil field in Algeria last week. He was 58. Jay Rowan, Gordy Rowan’s nephew, died Aug. 9, 2003, after tumbling over Awbrey Falls while tubing with a buddy. He was 20.

Gordon’s brother, John Rowan, 61, lives in an assisted-living community in Redmond; John’s wife, Judy, 59, also lives in Redmond.

Gordon and John were close, said Rob Anderson, pastor at the Community Presbyterian Church of Redmond.

Anderson led the funeral for Jay Rowan and was crestfallen when he learned of another death in the family.

“It was just a great sorrow in my heart knowing they are having to face another great loss,” Anderson said. “They were excited about his retirement.”

An engineer and globetrotter, Gordon Rowan planned to retire this year from oil giant BP and settle permanently in Sumpter, said Jessica Rowan, 31, his niece in Redmond.

Sumpter, which has a population of a little more than 200, is about 30 miles southwest of Baker City.

“He was going to retire in November (2012),” she said. “But he went back on one last trip.”

Planning instead to retire in May, Gordon Rowan left for Algeria earlier this month but stopped by Redmond first to see John Rowan, Jessica’s father. Such spontaneous visits weren’t a surprise, Jessica Rowan said.

“He never called ahead of time to say that he was coming through,” she said.

There was a routine to the visits, though. They usually ended up being focused on pizza and a movie at the community where John Rowan lives. Other times they just watched TV and spent time together. The brothers stopped dining out because John Rowan has advanced Parkinson’s disease, Jessica Rowan said.

Gordon Rowan would usually bring lame jokes and photos with him from his travels around the world, she said. She said her uncle said he “felt very at home” at the oil-field complex in Algeria.

“He never felt afraid to be there,” she said, “or expressed that fear if he had any.”

John Rowan was the oldest brother. Gordon Rowan was in the middle. Gerald Rowan, who also lived in Sumpter, was the third and youngest Rowan brother. He is four or five years younger than John Rowan, Jessica Rowan said. To her, the men were known as Jerry, Johnny and Gordy.

While they found different paths in life, the brothers remained tight. Jerry was a wood carver, Johnny an artist and teacher and Gordy an engineer. Jessica Rowan said Gordy was always a point of pride.

“He is the kind of person you bragged about,” she said. “Just a charming, fascinating, fun guy.”

So was her brother, Jay Rowan, namesake for the annual Jay Rowan Invitational swim competition in Redmond.

As a swimmer for Redmond High School, Jay Rowan qualified four times for the state meet, according to The Bulletin story reporting his death. All four years of high school he won the Intermountain Conference district championship for 50-yard freestyle and he wore the district crown three years for 100-yard freestyle.

Offered a scholarship to swim at the University of Missouri, Jay Rowan chose instead to attend the University of Oregon and study film, Lee Howard, his high school swim coach, told The Bulletin at the time.

“I just talked to him a couple days ago,” Howard told The Bulletin in August 2003. “He was real excited about getting back to school this year. Jay was a special young man. It’s a tragedy of indescribable proportions.”