The memorial service for Douglas Arthur Lowe was held at Cornell University on Monday, Setptember 15th, 2008. Please see articles and reflections of Douglas in relation to the memorial service below.
Cornell Honors Douglas
Lowe ’11
By Abubakar Jalloh
Created Sep 16 2008
News Story from Cornell Daily Sun
Yesterday evening, family members, friends and peers
gathered at the Chapel at Anabel Taylor to pay tribute to
Douglas Lowe ’11, who died tragically this past summer
while swimming in Fall Creek Gorge.
This summer he was enrolled in a three-week summer class.
On June 12, while swimming at Fall Creek gorge, he slid off
a smooth rock and was caught in a swirling pool of water.
He was pronounced dead and his body was recovered that same
day.
Lowe — a Jackie Robinson Scholar and a Cornell Tradition
Fellow — was accepted to Cornell when he was 16. He
dedicated most of his free time to volunteer work, jazz and
dancing.
“There is nothing more devastating than the loss of a
child,” said Susan Murphy ’73, vice president of student
and academic services.
Murphy spoke of Lowe’s love of “giving back to his
community,” and his reliance on positive mentoring
relationship. She went on to quote a piece Lowe had written
in which he described his passion for his work at a
nursery.In memoriam: Friends, family and fellow students
remember Douglas Lowe at a memorial service at the Anabel
Taylor Chapel yesterday. [1]In memoriam: Friends, family
and fellow students remember Douglas Lowe at a memorial
service at the Anabel Taylor Chapel yesterday.
“I think I am able to communicate with children in the way
that they can understand,” she read.
Murphy concluded by saying, “time may ease the pain [of
losing Lowe] … but it would never take it all away … Hold
fast to your dreams, Doug lived a life full of dreams.”
Prof. Jeff Cowie, industrial and labor relations,
enthusiastically spoke about many moments he spent with
Lowe. Cowie emphasized that their “point of connection was
music; he played, I listened.”
To Cowie, Lowe’s death was only comparable to the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in the eyes of
Robert Kennedy.
Paul Lowe, Jr., Lowe’s brother, performed two pieces of
Jazz compositions he ascribed to his late brother. The two
were members of a jazz group they had formed called Young
Jazee Vibes.
Kyle Barron ’11 described his former roommate as “the kind
of person who would just stay up to keep me company [at 2
a.m.]” Barron emphasized that Lowe, his roommate that he
met during Cornell Days, always went “out of his way” to
help others.
One person after another spoke of the kindness,
selflessness and great sense of humor that Lowe
exemplified.
In an attempt to further promote the ideals that Lowe
subscribed to, his parents have established a scholarship
fund named the Douglas Arthur Lowe Prism for Beauty on
Earth (DALPBE). Barron and Lauren Gluck ’11, a friend of
Lowe’s, have been named the fund’s vice president and
volunteer coordinator respectively.
At the memorial — organized by the Black Students United,
Cornell Caribbean Students Association Dance Ensemble and
ILR Office of Student Services Members of the Cornell — the
Caribbean Students Dance Ensemble performed a short
performance to pay tribute to the person they described as
“the most eager student in the group… [and] the one who
always brought a positive outlook [to others].”
At the service’s conclusion, Paul Lowe, Sr., highlighted
his son’s passion for classes, love of friends and
obsession with Cornell University.
When asked what he thought of school, Lowe told his father,
“I’m having a great time with friends and classes at
Cornell.”