Louise Mullen

Louise Mullen of Malvern Louise Mullen passed this life Tuesday, July 23, 2013. Born Lake Louise Lowery on May 25, 1928 to her parents, Ruth Charleton Lowery and John B. Lowery, Louise grew up in Hilton Village a small community in Newport News, Va. and graduated from Warwick High School. She met her love of 60 years, Richard Harding Mullen, in July, 1953 and they were married in November, 1953. Louise and Richard raised their family in Manlius, N.Y. where Louise gave actively to many social causes. She co-founded "The Bear's Paw" a non-profit business that marketed handcrafted items made by artisans in the Appalachian region. She and her partner's main focus was to sell the quilts of the Freedom Quilting Bee, an outgrowth of the Civil Rights Movement established in 1966 as local people in Alberta, Ala. lost work on farms after registering to vote in the nineteen sixties, and the women put their skills to use in earning family income. Louise and Richard moved to Pennsylvania in 1984 and Louise joined Media Friends Meeting and eventually her beloved Schuylkill Friends Meeting. Louise's faith and practice of holding other's in the light drew many to her. She found a home volunteering with the villagers of the Camphill Community at Kimberton Hills tending the herb garden and working to bring wool from 'sheep to shawl'. Her quiet appreciation and love for this world, family and friends were always with her. Her daily pleasures were the beauty of a flower garden, the melody of birds in the morning and a good laugh. Louise is survived by her husband Richard, her daughters, Amy Cousins and Beth Richey, her sons-in-law John Cousins and Brough Richey, and her grandchildren Hannah and Ben Richey and Emma and Sam Cousins. She was preceded in death by a brother, Richard Lowery. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 2nd at the Schuylkill Friends Meeting in Phoenixville. In lieu of flowers or personal gifts, donations in Louise's honor can be made to Schuylkill Friends Meeting, 37 N Whitehorse Rd., Phoenixville, PA 19460; or Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, Development Office, PO Box 1045, Kimberton, PA 19442; www.camphillkimberton.org. Condolences may be offered online at www.PhoenixvilleFuneralHome.com