Dr. George D. Lowe II

Dr. George D. Lowe II, a retired professor of sociology, died Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at his home in Lubbock. Cause of death was heart failure as a complication of renal failure, the family said.

Dr. Lowe was born May 26, 1934, in Columbus, Georgia, the eldest son of Frank Haddock Lowe and Lydia Belle Chapman Lowe. He grew up in Baxley, GA., and attended the Appling County Public Schools.

He received his B.S. degree from the University of Georgia, his M.S. from the Pennsylvania State University, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. While at Penn State he met and married a fellow student, Frances Davis. The couple had two daughters and lived in State College, Ithaca, NY, and Athens, GA., and in 1975 moved to Lubbock, where he taught in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Texas Tech University until retirement in 2004.

Dr. Lowe served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict, as a cryptographer stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland.

He belonged t the American, Northeastern, Southeastern, Mid-South Central, and Southwest Sociological Associations, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mid-South in 1998. Dr. Lowe was a longtime member of the Chaucer Society.

He is survived by his wife, Frances; two daughters, Sarah Abernathie (with husband Kyle) and Dr. Laura Lowe; two grandsons, John Connor, and Andrew Lee Abernathie, all of Lubbock; a sister, Eula Irwin (with husband Robert) of Jacksonville, Florida; and several nephews and nieces.

Dr. Lowe was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Lydia Lowe, and a brother, Frank Jr.

There will be no service. Following cremation, burial will be at the Omega Cemetery in Baxley, GA., where his people are.

An endowed memorial scholarship in Dr. Lowe's name will be established at Texas Tech University and the family requests that donations be directed there in lieu of flowers.