Published: February 1, 1999
The funeral for Donald E. Lowery, 57, of 1110 S. Barker St., Bloomington, will be at 2 p.m. today at Beck Memorial Home, Bloomington, with Bishop Charles Grilliot officiating. Burial will be in Park Hill Mausoleum, Bloomington.
He died at 2 a.m. Friday (Jan. 29, 1999) at his residence.
Memorials may be made to BroMenn Hospice or the American Cancer Society.
Mr. Lowery was born Nov. 15, 1941, in Normal, the son of Carl and Luella Johnson Lowery. He married his wife, Verma, on Oct. 17, 1960. She survives.
Survivors include two daughters, Lori Lowery, Salina, Kan.; and Sarah (Pieter) Elzinga, Iowa City, Iowa; one sister, Lois Herren, Bloomington; two brothers, Dawayne Lowery, Marquette Heights; and Leslie Lowery, Summit, Miss.
Also surviving is one granddaughter, Emma Elzinga, Iowa City.
He was preceded in death by his parents and one son, Brad Lowery.
Mr. Lowery was a telephone facility technician for GTE and a groundskeeper for Prairie Vista Golf Course.
He was a member of the golf league of GTE and the IBEW local union.
He served in the Navy as a radarman first class.
He loved golf, loved his family, and loved fishing and wintering in Florida.
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The following was written by classmates for our 50th Reunion Booklet. Led by a dedicated team of local classmates, the project was titled:
"BHS CLASS OF '60 FOOTPRINTS"
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Don Lowery "My Guy"--"My Husband"--(classmate too)
My first memory of this person happened in my junior year. I saw him walking down the hall and thought how cute he was..He had just moved to Bloomington from Stanford that year.
I remember when we would have co-ed gym class together, I would ogle and gawk at him. He never wanted me on his team when we were playing badminton because I was too busy eyeing him to pay attention to the game. He was a good tight end football player for the Raiders football team and also excelled at throwing the discus on the track team (coming close or tying to the school record for that event).
How thrilled I was when he FINALLY asked me for a date. I will always remember him coming to my house (as I peeked out the window) and there on the porch he stood in a beautiful red and gray sweater and gray corduroy slacks. Why do I remember what he wore but not what I wore is something that puzzles me--but off we went to see the movie "A Summer Place" with Sandra Dee. He drove his parentsʼ ʻ55 pushbutton transmission, coral and gray Plymouth and I was one happy girl of 17 years of age.
After that date, he would come by the house to see me but could never stay very late as that was the coachesʼ rules--"you must be in bed at a decent hour". I lived close to Miller Park and we would walk around the water and I would think how lucky I am to have this guy in my life. Some of our "hang out" time was spent in the summer at a small water hole at Greenwood trailer park on Greenwood Av. We would take a blow up raft and a radio and float around on the water sunning ourselves and talking of our future plans.
His parentsʼ house stood where the Family Video store is now on S. Main St. (across from the armory) where they rented an upstairs apartment. I remember going there to meet his Mom and Dad and brothers and sister and thinking what a nice family he had. I saw bunk beds in the corner of the dining room closed off by a drawn curtain..he told me this was where he and his brother slept.
His Mom was a great cook and worked at Lynn's lunch on W. MacArthur and later at Park View Inn-- His Dad worked for Funk's Seed Co. and later raised the garden for the Funks employees. Once the Pantagraph came out to interview his Dad and they asked him "how many people work at Funks?”---Carl answered, "about half of them"(they thought that answer was hilarious and printed it just that way)
June of 1960 came and we were ready to graduate...He came by to pick me up and I have pictures in my parents’s side yard by the snowball bush of us in our graduation robes. We were ready for the big step forward to the next level of our life......For him it was joining the U.S. Navy and it was after boot camp when his Mom and I went for graduation that he asked me to marry him.
We were married that Oct.17, 1960, and made our home in Waukegan, Illinois, and later Charleston, S.C.....babies # 1 2 came along quickly and so I was happy and content .
It was while he was in the Navy that he took up the sport of playing golf and was "hooked" and I became a golf widow...Many trophies decorated our house as he played the game so well....Highland Park Golf Course became his second home.
Baby # 3 came along as a big surprise and we made our home just a block away from where I lived while going to Raymond , Irving and BHS...we were so happy and still very much in love.
Our first tragedy came with the death of our only son who was killed on a motorcycle in 1987-age 24...
Retirement for Don came when he turned 51 years of age and we would spend our winters in S. Florida...we had the good life, or so we thought. After 6 years of retirement and at the age of 57—Don was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died a month later....Jan 29, 1999
'My Guy" was gone--but never forgotten. My memories of him and our high school days are very precious to me...........
(Verma Rediger)
Regarding some fun times with Don Lowery: Both Don and I married into the same extended family. Don to Verma Rediger and myself to Norma (Fritzie) Alsman; class of 1959. We both enjoyed going to Florida for a few weeks in the winter to fish with much older uncles. We fished everyday from sun up till sun down. Don captained his father in law's boat and I captained my father in law's boat along with another cousin, Sandy Smiley Albee's, father fishing with other uncles in another boat. I remember how patient Don was with these older gentlemen and it was always something we looked forward to doing. Don was always the first one up; with his cup of coffee in hand and the bait for the day waiting as we each loaded up again for some fun and memories in the Florida sun.
(Gary Schoonover)