Obituary of Joseph L. Lowder

Joseph L. Lowder, 82, passed away unexpectedly in his Connecticut Avenue apartment on Sunday morning, November 27, 2011. He was born in Thomasville, NC, the son of the late Hurley J. Lowder and Foye M. Jackson. His brother, 1st Lt. Harold Glenn Lowder, was killed in the Korean conflict. As a teenager, Joe moved to Baltimore, MD, where he completed high school. After serving in the U.S. Army in Okinawa, he began a promising career in theater. Although the theater and cinema remained his great passion, new responsibilities for the care of his mother followed the deaths of his brother and father. He decided to complete a degree in transportation, move to the District of Columbia, and take a position with the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. He retired as a senior ticket agent from Amtrak's downtown ticket office. Joe's interests were varied and his wit was sharp. He kept remarkably well informed on contemporary political and arts-related issues, was a talented self-taught pianist, and eagerly moved from one crafts application to another. But most of all, he was passionately devoted to those he loved. He is survived by cousins Eloise Jackson Gibbs, Jimmy Yarbrough, Ruby (Jackson) Davis, Ray Jackson, Thomas Little, Paul Little, Carl Lee Jackson, Donald Jackson, Peggy Jackson Edwards; nieces Lisbeth Dawn Lowder Pugh and Marie Elizabeth Aurora Lowder; and many loving friends in the Washington area and throughout the country. The family will schedule a private memorial service in North Carolina in Joe's favorite season, the spring. The deaths of family and loved ones endeared him to the following charities: the National Parkinson Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association.