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Lowrey, Mrs. Perry O.

7/23/1966

MRS. PERRY O. LOWREY

December 22, 1879-July 23, 1966

Mrs. Perry O. Lowrey, widow of the Reverend Perry O. Lowrey of the Louisiana Conference, died on July 23, 1966. Funeral services were held in the Mansfield Methodist Church on July 26 by Dr. Guy M. Hicks, assisted by Rev. George F. Pearce and Rev. R. W. Bengston. Interment was in the Mansfield cemetery, where she was laid to rest by her husband and one son, Lamar.

Mrs. Lowrey was born in Seguin, Texas on December 22, 1879, the daughter of Lucius Mirabeau McGehee and Frances Elizabeth Brown McGehee. She was a descendent of the Mirabeau B. Lamar family and a niece of Bishop Hiram Abiff Boaz (deceased) of Texas.

While serving as organist of Sherman St. Methodist church in San Antonio, Texas, young Miss McGehee met Rev. P. O. Lowrey of Mansfield, Louisiana, a young minister who was holding a revival in the Sherman St. church. They were married on July 16, 1902 and returned to the Louisiana Conference where their first pastorate was in Bastrop.

Together they served faithfully in many capacities in Louisiana, specializing in the pastoral ministry and in rural missions. At one time Rev. Lowrey was Executive Secretary of Missions and his wife was a loyal partner in this Conference-wide work. Except for the earliest years Mansfield was their home and there they reared a family of ten children (one deceased) who are known today as outstanding Christian leaders wherever they live.

After her husband’s death in 1929 Mrs. Lowrey continued to make her home in Mansfield and to be active in church and community. As a musician she served First Methodist Church there as pianist and organist. She was a faithful and useful member of the (then) Woman’s Missionary Society, and a church member whose church and home came first. As both father and mother to her growing children, she saw to it that they were taught a deep and loving church devotion.

During the declining years of her life Mrs. Lowrey lived with the family of her eldest daughter Grace and husband, Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Miller, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her last years of infirmity were spent in the LaRocca Nursing Home, Tuscaloosa. She died there on July 23, 1966, at the age of eighty-six.

Surviving relatives include an only sister, Mrs. J. W. Lowrey of Mansfield, nine children and numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Her children are: Mrs. D. A. (Grace) Miller, Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Mrs. R. A. (Ruth) Kobs, Columbus, Georgia; Mr. F. M. (Francis) Lowrey, Monroe, Louisiana; Mr. B. E. (Brunner) Lowrey, Mansfield, Louisiana; Mr. Perry C. Lowrey, Caracas, Venezuela; Mrs. W. E. (Louise) Hulsey, Huntsville, La; Mrs. C. E. (Evelyn) Freeland, Lucedale, Mississippi; Mr. Marvin Lowrey, Maplewood, Louisiana; Mr. Wilbur Lowrey, Washington, D.C.

I was Mrs. Lowrey’s pastor in Mansfield and knew her as her life spanned some difficult years of depression. Her whole life was one of pioneering service, and I have many joyous memories of her as we worked together in church and community. To her, life was truly a sacrament and religion was a matter of uplift and even laughter and keen wit in the midst of daily duties. Her faith was an inspiration to me as it was to her family, her church and her community. Her service to others always seemed an outpouring of love, and her many sacrifices were made with joy and a deep sense of dedication.

As we officiated at the last, loving rites, we felt that relatives and friends in the Mansfield Church were there to give tribute and respect and love to a truly great Christian. We believe with all our hearts that she is with the Heavenly Father in that “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Source: Journal Louisiana Conference, 1967; p. 225 By Guy M. Hicks

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Lowrey, Mrs. Perry O.