Rev. A. Leon Lowry dies at 92
From the St. Petersburg Times

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 The civil rights leader was the first African-American elected to the Hillsborough County School Board.

By EMILY NIPPS
Published August 21, 2005

TAMPA - The Rev. A. Leon Lowry, one of Tampa's most influential civil rights activists and the first African-American elected to the Hillsborough County School Board, died of congestive heart failure Saturday morning. He was 92.

Right up until he was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital with health complications last week, the Rev. Lowry was working as a chaplain at the Orient Road Jail, getting around by scooter because of hip problems.

"And that was just his whole life," said the Rev. Lowry's wife, Shirley. "He always wanted to help people."

Known for his deep, lulling voice and gentle but powerful presence, the Rev. Lowry became pastor of Beulah Baptist Institutional Church in 1956. He was president of the Florida NAACP and led the campaign to desegregate public facilities in Tampa in the 1960s.

"He's among the last of the great civil rights leaders in Tampa," former Mayor Sandy Freedman said.

The Rev. Lowry's civil rights roots went back as far as his days of teaching theology at Morehouse College in the 1940s. Among his students was Martin Luther King Jr.

The Rev. Lowry led peaceful protests at several Tampa lunch counters in the 1960s and helped found Tampa's first biracial bank. He also helped GTE president Fred Learey devise a plan to break down racial barriers at the phone company. He once brought King to Tampa to speak at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory.

With his ability to reach out to people of all races, ages and classes, the Rev. Lowry seemed like the answer to the Hillsborough County School Board's problems with busing and race relations in the 1970s. He was elected to the board in 1976 and served four terms over 16 years.

"I remember he would do the prayer (at board meetings), and for me, it was like God's voice speaking," recalled former superintendent Earl Lennard.

The Rev. Lowry never raised his voice in anger, even when he preached against injustice, Freedman said. She first saw the Rev. Lowry preach at his church in 1974 and saw him speak at several civil rights demonstrations, weddings and funerals.

"When Rev. Lowry talked, people listened," she said. "A lot of public figures make noise. But if Rev. Lowry didn't have anything to say, he didn't say it.

In 1987, the Rev. Lowry was given the Florida Bar Foundation's Medal of Honor for easing racial tensions and promoting social justice in Tampa. He retired from the school board in 1992 at age 79. That was also the year Lowry Elementary, named in his honor, opened. He stepped down as Beulah's pastor in 1995.

For the last eight years, the Rev. Lowry has been counseling inmates at Orient Road. He seemed to affect everyone he came into contact with, said the Rev. Arthur H. Carter, senior chaplain at the jail.

The Rev. Lowry had two sons, Benjamin and A. Leon Lowry II, with his first wife, Claudia. He also has three stepsons with his second wife, Shirley, whom he married five years ago. The two met several years earlier when Shirley worked at his church as a teacher.

"He was sincere, a perfect gentleman," she said Saturday. "He was just so respectful, and every woman wants that in a man."

Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized, but a service will likely be held on either Thursday or Saturday, family spokesperson Arndreeta Harris said. A decision on the date and location will likely be made on Monday.



    The Rev. A. Leon Lowry, one of Tampa's most influential civil rights activists and the first African-American elected to the Hillsborough County School Board, died of congestive heart failure Saturday August 20,2005. He was 92.