James R. Lowe Jr.

James Rowland Lowe, Jr. died peacefully in Washington, DC on February 18, 2022. Mr. Lowe was born in Grand Rapids, MI the son of the late Elizabeth Ives Lowe of Washington, DC and the late James Rowland Lowe of San Francisco, CA.

Mr. Lowe attended St. Albans School and graduated from St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA in 1955 and from Yale College in 1959 and Yale Law School in 1964. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2005.

Mr. Lowe began his career with Reilly and Wells, a labor relations firm in Washington. Subsequently, he worked for the private enterprise programs of the Agency for International Development (AID) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the successor to AID in the private enterprise area. After government he opened the Washington Office of Arctic Gas, a US – Canadian consortium which proposed to build a natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay and the Mackenzie delta in Canada to markets in southern Canada and the lower 48 states. In the end, the pipeline was never built and the gas is still being re-injected 30 years later. He also worked for Union Pacific and owned a travel agency.

Mr. Lowe was a lifelong member of St. John’s Episcopal Church - Lafayette Square where he served on the vestry. He served on the boards of the Potomac School, St. Mark’s School, the College of Preachers and the Washington Theological Consortium. He was also a member of the Chapter of the Washington National Cathedral. Mr. Lowe was a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. He was president of the Board of the House of Mercy and was member of the Founding Governance Board of the Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys, an Episcopal school for boys in Anacostia.

Mr. Lowe was long active in Republican politics in Washington. He was a member of the District of Columbia Republican Committee and served a term as a member of the Republican National Committee. He was an alternate delegate to the Republican convention in 1996 and was a delegate to the conventions in 2000 and 2004.

Mr. Lowe was a member of the Metropolitan Club, the Chevy Chase Club and formerly of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco.

Mr. Lowe was married to the late Elizabeth Murphy Lowe and is survived by 4 children, James III (Kelly) of Estero, FL and Garrett (Stephanie), Elizabeth and Amanda of Washington, 4 grandchildren (Kemper, Nora, Emelia and James IV) and step-grandson, (George).

Funeral services will be held at St. John’s Church - Lafayette Square on Tuesday,

March 1, 2022 at 3pm. The service will be accessible by livestream at www.stjohns-dc.org, and in the event that events in Washington, DC make it necessary to reschedule, up-to-date information can be viewed on the day of the service at the same link.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in the name of James R. Lowe, Jr. to the Bishop Walker School, 1801 Mississippi Ave SE, Washington, D.C. or www.bishopwalkerschool.org/onlinegiving.