Bruce W. Lowe's Obituary
Bruce W. Lowe died Wednesday afternoon, October 29, 2014, at his home in Dallas. Woody and Wayne, his sons, and Paulette Harrison, a long-time friend … and “daughter” and “sister” … were present. He had led a remarkably principled and purposeful life. Bruce was a Southern Baptist minister for almost 70 years and a pastor for 25 years. His ministry was interrupted by World War II and his service initially as an infantry captain and later as an army chaplain. He pastored churches primarily in Louisiana until his resignation from his Baton Rouge congregation in 1965, knowing that his progressive views on racial equality meant that he would never serve a Baptist church in the South again. He then worked with the federal government as a Civil Rights Specialist in the department of Health and Human Services until his retirement in 1994 at the age of 79. Bruce worked with hospitals and nursing homes to meet compliant standards first for African-Americans and later for Americans with disabilities. Following his retirement, he wrote about homosexuality and the importance of welcoming and accepting the LGBT community into our churches. His paper, “A Letter to Louise,” was widely read and resulted in thousands of communications with people all over the world attempting to understand their own sexuality and Christianity and parents attempting to reconcile their children’s sexuality and the teachings of Christian churches. Until the last two years of his life, Bruce’s cognitive, social, and physical functioning had been creative and vigorous. Anna Marie, his wife of almost 68 years, then died in February, 2013. And his declining independence resulted in his younger son, Woody, moving into his home, watching over him and increasingly caring for him. Bruce Lowe’s life was a gift to those of us fortunate to be his family and his friends. We are grateful to him for his vision of respect, love, and justice and his encouragement to strive unceasingly toward that vision. We will miss him and we celebrate a life very well lived. Bruce’s friends will receive friends from 6:30-8:30 pm on Friday, October 31, 2014 at Restland Funeral Home. Services for Bruce will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, November 1, 2014 at Royal Lane Baptist Church. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, at Restland Road, Dallas, TX 75238.
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