Marilyn Jean Lowry

At home with family on August 29, 2018 MARILYN JEAN BUSHYAGER LOWRY; beloved wife of 60 years to Jack Lowry; loving mother of Kim Hultberg and her husband Rich, Jack Lowry and his wife Maria and Nancy Lowry Moitrier and her husband Pierre; cherished grandmother of Geoffrey and Megan Lowry and Alex and Erin Hultberg. The family will receive friends in Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church, 3701 Sweet Air Road, Phoenix, Maryland 21131 on Saturday, September 8, 2018 from 12 noon to 1pm with a Funeral Service beginning at 1pm. Interment Private.

Following the reception, everyone is welcome and encouraged to follow the family back to Jean and John's home for a garden tour.

In lieu of flowers and to honor Jean’s love of gardening, contributions may be made in Memory of Jean Lowry (written on memo line) to Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland (a 501c3 organization), P.O. Box 65172, Baltimore, Maryland 21209 and/or The Fund for Jean Lowry in care of Maryland Nursery Landscape Grower Association (MNLGA) (also a 501c3 fund), Box 726, Brooklandville, Maryland 21022.

A Guest Book is available at www.lemmonfuneralhome.com

EULOGY by Megan Lowry

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Megan Lowry, daughter of Jack Lowry,Jr. and the grand daughter of Jack and Jean Lowry.

I’m another Lowry, and believe it or not another plant person.

This past January I became a licensed Landscape Architect in the state of Texas. I sent several texts to family and friends, but the first person I called was my Grandmother. My Grandmother always wanted to know what we were up to as grandchildren and at times it seemed as though she knew my class schedule better than I did, which is why this next story is so fitting.

My grandparent’s house has always been filled with wonderful memories. As a kid, the visits to their house were more scheduled – Easter, Birthday Celebrations, Christmas and an impromptu weed pulling session during the spring. As a college student studying Landscape Architecture I found myself over at their house on a weekly basis. I never bothered to call before coming over, I just sort of showed up in the garden more often than not to find my Grandfather dangling from ladders.

On this specific occasion, I walked into the house to find my grandparents sitting in their chairs in the living room. Thankful they weren’t doing any aerial stunts with the ladders this time I looked over at my Grandmother and new immediately something was wrong. She looked different. It took me a moment to figure it out, but I determined her glasses were missing.

When I asked her about them, she mentioned they were broken and she needed to drive to the eye doctor to get them replaced. I knew my Grandmother couldn’t read her newspaper without them, let alone drive so I offered to take her the next day when they opened. A few minutes later I heard an audible crack and looked over to see my Grandfathers glasses weren’t sitting on his face properly as he exclaimed his glasses were broken too and he was tagging along to join the fun.

Was it an accident? Probably. But, I will always remember the story as my Grandfather breaking his own glasses to join in on the fun my Grandmother and I were going to have. Needless to say I skipped my Monday class and to this day think Toxicodendron radicans is a large fruit-bearing tree.

This story also sums up my grandparents relationship. They did everything together. My Grandfather would go to the extent of losing his eyesight to spend more time with my Grandmother, even if it meant going to see a doctor.

I am going to miss catching up on Orioles stats with my Grandmother, talking about our favorite plants and watching the hummingbirds with her form the kitchen window.

More importantly I am going to miss the kind, warm-hearted person who brought joy into the lives of those around her.

EULOGY by Nancy Lowry Moitrier

I am amazed, but not surprised of the outpouring of friends here today. Mom was great at connecting with people, which is why there are so many of you here.

Isn’t it nice when a friend gives you a newspaper article because they thought of you…I mean they thought of you when they read it, so they tore it out. They kept that article in a safe place until they could deliver it. Then, upon delivery they talked about the thought of you, and why the article caused them to stop, think, tear and deliver. They wanted to make conversation- connection. My mom, she was that kind of friend to so many. She was about making personal connections.

I have been seriously reflecting on mom these last few months, sharing my observations with her. I see now other tools of her “connectivity skillset”: she could always connect with people about sports- a benign subject, an easy subject. AND She opened herself for people to connect with her. She oftentimes carried a conversational handbag. She had handbags in the shape of watering cans, Christmas trees and one even out of an authentic NFL football! AND, I mean, how easy was it to chat about her interesting necklaces? Oftentimes they were elegant, other times exuberant. I hadn’t realized how much necklaces were part of her persona, but when I went to place her colorful beaded necklace around her neck in June in preparation for Mom and Dad’s 60th Wedding Anniversary she responded : ”Now I feel like Jean.” In almost every photo we have found, she wears a special and obvious necklace.

If you had asked my mom to list some of her accomplishments she would have started by saying: “114 years marriage to Dad!” People would look at her inquisitively (how is that possible? she looks so youthful!) She would continue by saying: I’ve been married to him for 60 years and working with him for 54 years and that is a total of 114 years together.” and IF you know dad at all, that is quite an accomplishment --- --- --- I mean he himself has accomplished A LOT and is a bit much to keep up with. Hmmm… this may explain why she loved martinis so much!

But among her other accomplishments:

• As a child she sold Cloverine salve for 25cents, as a door to door salesman. If I recall, she told me she made $30.00.

• She played the Lyra/ Glockenspiel bells in the Jeanette High School marching band

• She was a teacher at the Towson state teachers college laboratory classroom

• She had years where she was passionate about needlepoint, so passionate that at traffic lights she would ask us, her children, to tell her when the light changed to green so she could get a few stiches in.

But most importantly---

• She was Mother to three, Kim, Jack and Nancy

• Mother In Law to Rich, Maria and Pierre

• Grandmother to four twenty somethings: Geoffrey, Megan, Alex, and Erin

• Domestic engineer extraordinaire (which she probably wouldn’t admit to…) but every closet, every drawer-perfectly organized. I recently stumbled upon a plaque perfectly stored, yet obvious in her desk: “Organized people are too lazy to look for things.”

• She created a beautiful and elegant home. Her “no maintenance garden” painted upon the hallway walls.

• CFO of Lowry and Company: (but only ever admitting to being the secretary) Horticultural Purveyors of specimen plant materials, trees, shrubs and liners, fine garden elements, useful grower supplies and specialty products. Over the 54 years, Lowry and Company, Inc. distributed tens of thousands of plants and thousands of tractor trailer loads of plants from the west coast, and the east coast; to nurseries, garden centers, landscape contractors and growers in the mid-Atlantic region. Coordinating the shipping, the billing, the sales travel and the relationship building were all part of the multiple hats she wore that were instrumental in making their business a success.

Mom’s life was not all about the business. She was active in so many things, but most importantly----

• A single bumper sticker on her car: ‘Ask Me about my Garden Club’ is indicative of the love she had not only for the Lutherville Garden Club but for her interest in anything to do with nature, beauty and design. During her 54 years of membership, she was the club president three times, 1979-1981, and again in 2011-2015. She was elected to become the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland District III Director in 1981-1983.

Always wanting to fill her brain with knowledge----

• She is one of only 75 people in the country who have studied to achieve the ‘Five-Star Certificate’ of the National Garden Clubs. A five star certificate comes from successfully completing all four of the four National GC Schools and completing four refreshers, one per year in each of the National GC Schools. And because mom was never one to do ANYTHING average, she achieved the Five Star Certification not once but TWICE! And Because five star times two is a ten star, Pierre and I used to laugh after a brief salute!

• She was a Federated Garden Clubs Flower Show Judge

• She was president of the American Association of Nurseryman’s Women’s Auxiliary 1972

• She was a Master Gardener, an Environmental Studies Consultant, a Garden Consultant and a Landscape Design Consultant. Whew! And if that wasn’t enough,

• She was president of the Sunnybrook Community Association

• She sang in the Havenwood Presbyterian Church Choir for 25 years and was a church deacon for a number of years.

And when it came to fun, mom has been known to host elegant parties, every detail well- thought out, every doily posed on the proper side. I can’t even imagine how many pounds of colossal sized shrimp she has steamed and cleaned and provided for the festivities. And the cakes…whoa the cakes… she would find the classiest pastry chef and loved to honor her friends or the celebration with the most beautiful cakes possible.

She was a thoughtful friend to so many. She truly loved to remember important dates and interests of her family and friends with special cards. I can be certain that many of you have been on the receiving end of a card prepared with her beautiful calligraphy. Years ago she sent vinyl blow up cards, more recently: and before they were trendy, pop-up-cards.

Herself, an only child, she was so proud of how her family had expanded to ten in all. As a young mother she gave her all to introduce her young children to all of the things that life had to offer: clubs, sports, technical schools, and tools for success. Mom went the extra mile to involve her children in hobbies specific to each one of our personalities and interests. She gave her all to do fun activities with her young grandchildren- frequently on the sidelines of the basketball court, or in the stands observing the marching band. She was there to support the Girl Scout, the cyclist, and the college student with a tasty restaurant meal. AND In a testimony to her spirit, Her humor persisted even until the end. Let me share with you:

HOSPICE NURSE TO MOM:

“Do you know why I’ve come here?”

MOM TO HOSPICE NURSE:

“Yes, to get jokes for your other patients”

MOM TO CHILDHOOD FRIEND WHO TELEPHONED TO SAY HELLO (When she was a bit under the weather):

“I can’t chat now, I am getting a massage.”

A Nursery industry friend shared a conversation from a time she had just gotten out of the hospital and said that all she wanted was a Martini, but she wasn’t supposed to have them. So, they sent her a small bottle of Beefeater’s, vermouth and olives as a care package. Every time they talked after that, Jean would say that she could use another care package 😊 She was truly a treasure.

A recent card to mom, from a garden club friend said: “I will always remember you as this vibrant woman, who was full of ideas, always had a smile and for whom no task was too difficult to tackle.”

We will go forward, and think of her, full of laughter, full of beauty, full of creativity, productivity. Full of love for people, plants and flowers and most especially- fun.