Donald Ray Lowder

Don was born in Terre Haute, IN on January 19th, 1937 to Carl and Frances Lowder. He is survived by his children, Bruce (Lori) Lowder, Cathy (Randy) Johnston and Carla (Frank) Bailey, daughter-in-law Sue Lowder, 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. He was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Judith Ann Ryan, and son Brian Lowder.

Don’s life got off to an inauspicious start as his mother thought he was a tumor since his siblings were 16 and 18 years old when he was born. However, that little tumor showed all of the Lowder clan by living a long and fulfilling life of 87 + years, longer than anyone else in the family. Typical of Don, we asked him to take a stab at his obituary several years ago and he gave us a resume of his professional and church service record. While those were important parts of who he was, it did not begin to give a full picture of the man so we’ll do our best.

Don’s early years were split between living in town and living on the farm, stop 13. On the farm, Don developed his lifelong dislike of chicken due to having to kill and clean the chickens for dinner. One of the cutest pictures of Don is a picture of 4 or 5-year-old Don in a uniform. He really wanted to be a pilot like his big brother Jack but couldn’t fulfill this dream because he was color blind, a genetic condition he passed on to grandsons Luke and Scott.

His teenage years were spent in Collett Park, working at A&P as a stock boy and at Schope’s gas station on 7th St in addition to being very active at Garfield HS. He played the coronet in the band, was in the Latin club, worked on the yearbook and spent a lot of time supporting Garfield athletics.

In college at ISU, originally studying to become a band director, Don met the love of his life, Judy, working on an ISU homecoming float. Don and Judy were married, started having children and Don started his professional career working for Household Finance Corp. After 9 years at HFC, 4 children and stops in Evansville, IN, Port Arthur, TX and Oklahoma City, OK, Don brought his family back to Terre Haute.

Back in Terre Haute, Don started working for Merchants Savings & Loan. In his 24 years at Merchants, he put together numerous mergers and expansions and turned Merchants into a stock corporation, ending as Vice President/Director. In addition to his work responsibilities, he was an active member/leader at Central Presbyterian Church as well as serving on regional boards, as a Junior Achievement advisor and as a Kiwanis member. Don ended his career as President/Chairman of the Board at Mt. Morris S & L in Mt. Morris, IL.

While Don was rightfully proud of his professional and service accomplishments, he was most proud of the fact he and Judy raised 4 self-reliant, hardworking, fun loving, college educated children. He loved spending time with his family and was often accused of having favorites and we agree with that. His favorite was always the one he was with! He also loved his cars. When asked about his favorite car, it was always the last one he had.

Don was a well-respected member of the Terre Haute community. He was kind, caring and fun to be around. He was a great husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend. He will be truly missed by those who knew him. Services will be held at Central Presbyterian Church on June 1st at 2:00PM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for Memorials be made to Central Presbyterian Church.