Lynn Lowrie

LYNN LOWRIE (MARILYN BERTHA GAST) died May 24, 2008 at age 66. Lynn was born September 19, 1941 in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Dr. Joseph and Helen Gast. After short stays in Long Island, New York and Dallas, Texas Lynn's family moved to Houston, Texas. She attended Poe Elementary, Lanier Junior High School, and Lamar High School. While she was attending Texas Tech University and majoring in mathematics, the family moved to Belmont, California. There in 1963 Lynn took a job with a small research company doing contract work for the United States government. In June 1963 she was assigned to the Nevada Test Site at Mercury, Nevada. There she met Les Lowrie whom she married in October 1963. The Lowries moved to the Washington, D.C. area in early 1964. Two children were born there. Then in early 1967 Les accepted a job in Houston. A third child was born in 1970, and for most of the children's school years Lynn was a stay at home mom. When the children's college years began Lynn got a job working part time for Houston Community College. Later she went to work full time in litigation support for the Fulbright and Jaworski law firm. She retired from F & J after a successful 13 year career. Not very long after her retirement Lynn began showing symptoms at first thought to indicate depression but later diagnosed as Lewy Body dementia, a form of Parkinson's disease. The illness proceeded rapidly and in March of this year Lynn moved to an assisted living facility in Austin so she and Les could be closer to their three children who all lived there. An intestinal ailment proved too much for her in her fragile health condition and she could not recover. Lynn was socially active in Walnut Bend Subdivision participating in the dance club, garden club and women's tennis. She particularly enjoyed the tennis, forming close friendships with teammates which lasted until the end of her life. Lynn was a longtime member of Memorial Drive United Methodist Church. When Lynn was 11 her mother died. A great support for her in the difficult teenage years was her involvement in the Girl Scouts. Lynn started in Brownies and stayed in scouting all the way through high school. A highlight of her life was a cruise with her troop to the Caribbean when she was 17. The girls in Troop 447 remained Lynn's dear friends for 50 years. As an adult Lynn was a scout leader for her daughter. Lynn is survived by her husband of 44 years Leslie M. Lowrie; son and daughter-in-law Peter and LaurieAnn Lowrie of Austin, daughter and son-in-law Amy and Christopher Carrier of Austin, son Robert of Austin; grandchildren Peter, Clayton, Andrew, Grace, John, and Bonnie; her four sisters and their spouses Janet and Phil Hogan of Ely, MN, Margaret (Peg) and Herb (deceased) Eibler of Lakeland MI, Sandra and Dick Melo of Gresham, OR and Alice Gast and Brad Askins of Bethlehem, PA; cousins Dorothy (Dody) and George Lambert and George and Patsy Gast of New Orleans, LA; and numerous nieces and nephews. The family is extremely grateful to the staffs of Querencia at Barton Creek and Hospice Austin for their loving care of Lynn during her difficult time. A memorial service will take place 11:00 A.M. Monday, June 16 at Tarrytown United Methodist Church, 2601 Exposition Blvd. in Austin. A reception celebrating Lynn's life will immediately follow the memorial service. Directions to the reception will be provided in the church bulletin. For those wishing to make a contribution to Lynn's memory we suggest Girl Scouts, San Jacinto Council, 3110 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77098 payable to GSSJC.