Share a Square

When she handed me her last batch of squares at the Denton Senior Center in October, Kathleen grinned up at me and asked, “Do I need to make any more?”

I laughed and told her, “No, ma’am. I think you have done your share.”

She nodded, and replied, “I said I would make a hundred for you and I did!”

Though she celebrated her 90th birthday in August, she didn’t let that stop her from giving back to the community. A hundred crocheted granny squares for Share A Square took a great deal of time, but she happily gave it.

“Time is something I’ve got plenty of,” she said. Kathleen was delighted that she could help send some love to children with cancer.

Yesterday at the Senior Center, I discovered that Kathleen Brown Lowrey had passed away at her home on Thanksgiving Day.

Take a moment to read her obituary, so you can know what a fine woman she was. Though I only talked with her briefly a few times, her light shone brightly. When you read this, you will know what I mean:

Kathleen Ruth Brown Lowrey passed away suddenly on Thursday morning, November 22, while preparing to spend Thanksgiving Day with friends and loved ones. She was born at home in the Argyle area to James W. “Jim” Brown and Ola Brown on August 8, 1917. She had enjoyed a surprise 90th birthday celebration given by her daughters Nancy, Lou, Ruth and her granddaughter Meggan this past August. The celebration was an especially joyful experience for her, because not only did local friends and family attend, but relatives from out of state came to wish her a happy birthday.

Kathleen lived all her life in Denton County, attending Pilot Knob and Argyle Elementary School. She attended Denton Junior High, Denton Senior High on Congress Street, graduating in 1934. She also attended the College of Industrial Arts (now Texas Woman’s University).

On January 3, 1937, she married Carroll E. Lowrey. They had three children: Charles Edwin Lowrey (deceased), Nancy K Lowrey, and L. Ruth Lowrey. While their daughters were growing up, Kathleen was a Girl Scout leader, room mother and sponsor for band and choir trips. She loved every aspect of her children’s school years. She especially enjoyed entertaining the many friends her children brought home. Kathleen always had enough food to make any meal stretch. Dinnertime was always special because of her delicious food and warm disposition. She never knew how many they would drag home, but it did not matter. She made the food work, and she made the meal look easy.

Later in life, she was a seamstress for TWU’s Dance Department and did clerical work for an insurance company and TWU. Retirement did not slow Kathleen down. She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi, Lioness Club, and Lions Club. She played cards with friends from the Denton Senior Center and stuffed envelopes at the Denton State School. She continued to enjoy cooking and made cookies with her granddaughter. She made peanut brittle and poppy seed cakes to deliver to the Denton Fire Department, her doctors and their staff members, her hairdresser, family and friends. She continued all of these activities and was prepared with food and gifts up until the moment of her death.

Kathleen was a founding member of the Asbury Methodist Church. She is survived by her daughters Nancy, Lou and Ruth, and her granddaughter Meggan, her nieces and nephews, their children and grandchildren.

I’m sitting here looking at the thank you card I had written to her but never took the time to stamp and mail. Yes, I thanked her in person, and she knew I appreciated her work—-but I didn’t follow through on the details.

I’ve got to go take the time to get my thank you notes in the mail.