Mary Laurine Lower, 27 Apr 1921 – 21 Mar 2011

LOWER, HANSON, ARMSTEAD, SZYSZKA, EDWARDS, CALDWELL, HEISLER, DEL MAR, STEWART, BROWN, DICKHAUS, MCDONALD, KNIGHT

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 4/6/2011 at 16:29:36

Funeral Mass for Mary L. Lower, 89, Parnell, was held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 26, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, North English. She died Monday, March 21, 2011, surrounded by her loving family at the Hospice of the Valley, Glendale, Ariz.

The Rev. Joseph Roost and the Rev. Troy Richmond concelebrated the Mass. Special music was provided by Karin Winwood, David Lower, Bill and Rita McDonald and Ed and Sandy Ficken.

Burial was at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Parnell. Pallbearers were Tony Caldwell, Steve Szyszka, Patrick Heisler, Michael Lower, David Lower, Peter Lower, Don Wallace and Andrew Lower. Honorary pallbearers were Gee Gee Zimmerman, Elaine Hanson, Mary Jane O’Brien, Diane Lotz, Wayne Meade, Helen Gaffey, Sherry Ferree, Bill McDonald and Ethel Douglass.

Memorials may be made for Rural Employment Alternatives or the Iowa County Food Bank.

Powell Funeral Home and Cremation Service was in charge of arrangements. Messages and tributes may be left at www.powellfuneralhomes.com .

Mary Laurine Lower was born April 27, 1921, near Holbrook, the daughter of Thomas E. and Mary E. (Armstead) Hanson. She graduated from Parnell High School and attended Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls. She taught school for two years.

She married Joseph George Lower July 9, 1941, at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Holbrook. She has been a lifelong resident of the Parnell and Holbrook communities. She was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Parnell, served actively with the Altar and Rosary Society and was a charter member of the Parnell American Legion Auxiliary.

She brought joy to her friends and family and enjoyed traveling, an active social and family life, baking, cooking, working her crossword puzzles and winning at Scrabble. She will be greatly missed.

Lower is survived by 11 children and their spouses, Elizabeth and Walter Szyszka, Amana; Dr. Thomas and Ceree Lower, Osceola; Robert and Dorothy Lower, Iowa City; Mary Patricia Lower and James Edwards, Las Vegas, Nev.; Janet and Kevin Caldwell, Washington; Francis and Liz Lower, Riverside; Helen and Tim Heisler, Glendale, Ariz.; Donald and Theresa Lower, North Liberty; David Lower and Maria del Mar, Rota, Spain; Marita and Rob Stewart, Phoenix, Ariz., and Susan Lower, Iowa City; one daughter-in-law, Cathy Lower Brown, North Liberty; 23 grandchildren; four stepgrandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; 12 step-great-grandchildren; two brothers and their wives, George and Roberta Hanson, Williamsburg, and Thomas and Sally Hanson, Denver, Colo., and one brother-in-law and his wife, Leonard and Rose Lower, Williamsburg.

She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; one daughter, Mary Kathryn; one son, Michael; one son-in-law, William Dickhaus; two brothers, Clement Hanson and Joseph Hanson, and three sisters, Norma Hanson, Catherine McDonald and Helen Knight.

The Williamsburg Journal Tribune, Williamsburg, Iowa, 07 Apr 2011, pg 3