Betty was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 23, 1918. Her parents George Edward Wahl and Lillian Stubel Wahl lived on Spring Garden Street in downtown Philadelphia. She was an only child. Betty grew up on Spring Garden Street and attended Girls High School. After high school, she attended and graduated from Beaver College in Glenside Pennsylvania, which is now known as Arcadia College.

While she was at Beaver College, she was introduced to her future husband, Robert Walker Lowry by her best friend, Marjorie Lowry Boyer. Bob was also born and raised in Philadelphia and lived on Gravers Lane in Chestnut Hill. Betty graduated from Beaver college in 1940 and began her teaching career at Woods School in Langhorne PA. Bob started a career with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington D. C.

Despite their separation, Betty and Bob grew closer. For more than a year, Betty and Bob made many trips back and forth between Philadelphia and Washington and also wrote many letters. Betty kept these letters and later shared them with her children. These letters showed how the deep love and affection between Bob and Betty grew despite the separation, the outset of a World War and the economic stress of a depression.

In September 1941, Betty and Bob were married. After they were married, Betty and Bob lived in southeast Washington D. C. just off Pennsylvania Avenue for a short time. However, Bob's job at the SEC brought him back to Philadelphia in early 1942 at the outset of World War II. Betty and Bob returned to Philadelphia and lived in an apartment on Magee Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. Betty's father George loaded up all their belongings in his truck and moved them back to Philadelphia.

Less than two years later, their first child was born, Robert Wahl Lowry. Betty and Bob moved to High Street in Upper Darby PA with their young son less than a year later. In April 1946, Betty and Bob had their second child, Donald George Lowry.

Betty and Bob moved to Arlington, Virginia in September 1947 because the SEC was planning to move back to Washington D. C. in early 1948. They found a brand new two story home in Dominion Hills which was "way out in the country". This was a new experience for Betty and Bob because they both had grown up and lived in the city. There was no bus service to their neighborhood and the road leading to their house wound its way around the Reeve's farm, where cows were grazing right next to the road. Bob commuted to Philadelphia during the week and Betty cared for her two small sons in their new home.

Bob and Betty joined the First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, where Betty taught Sunday school. Betty was very active in the church and remained so for more than fifty years.

Betty's mother and father made frequent trips to visit Betty in her new house. In August 1948, after visiting Betty and her family, George died suddenly in a work related accident. The following year, Betty and Bob had their third child, a daughter, Susan Elizabeth Lowry (Weller) in July 1949. Bob's mother Mary, who also made many trips to Virginia, cared for the two boys when Susan was born.

The fifties brought many changes to Betty's family. The children started to attend school and Betty decided to return to teaching. In 1954, Betty was hired by the Arlington County school system and her first teaching job was at Maury Elementary School. She moved to James Monroe Elementary School the following year, and then moved to Jamestown Elementary School, where she taught until she retired in 1980. For most of this period, she taught first grade. She loved teaching and working with so many talented people. Her fellow first grade teachers, Ruth Maier and Carmen Wilkinson were life long friends.

In addition to teaching, she was an active member of the Powhatan Springs Women's Club, and the Beaver College Alumni Association. She also served as a leader of Susan's Blue Bird and Camp Fire Girl groups. Rarely a day passed that Betty wasn't out and about working to help others.

In February 1958, Betty and Bob moved to their new home on Fifth Street in Boulevard Manor, which was less than a mile from their home in Dominion Hills. The home was built on land that was once part of the Reeve's farm. Betty enjoyed her home on Fifth Street because it was the scene of so many pleasant memories.

Betty loved to travel. In 1960, Betty and her family traveled to Wisconsin via upstate New York, Ontario, and the upper peninsula of Michigan. They made the trip in their green and white Buick Special, along with Bob's mother Mary. The trip lasted more than three weeks but it was the first of many exciting trips Betty took with her family.

Later, the family made a trip to Colorado in 1966 to visit Don, when Don was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver Colorado, and a trip to Europe in 1968, when Don was stationed in Madrid Spain. The European vacation was the first time Betty traveled outside the North American continent, but it was only the beginning of her foreign travel. Betty traveled to Europe with her husband Bob, her son Bob and her daughter Susan, where Don met them in Lisbon Portugal. The trip lasted three weeks and covered Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Great Britain. It was in London that Betty met her life time pen pal Hetty. Betty and Bob made other trips to Germany and Eastern Europe to visit Susan and her husband Worth.

Betty maintained her busy teaching life as well as helping others through her church and volunteer activities. She opened her home to student teachers from Madison College (JMU), and others who needed a temporary home. Tony Castelda, who had lived next door, moved into the home in 1967 where he lived for nearly two years. Betty loved the extra company and made sure every dinner was a special occasion. She loved to cook and her specialty was "groovy" meat loaf, as Tony called it.

Betty's mother Lillian moved from Philadelphia to Arlington in 1966, and lived in an apartment near the church. Betty enjoyed having her mother closer to home and they spent a great amount of time together. Lillian joined First Presbyterian Church and attended church every Sunday with Betty and her family.

Throughout this time, Betty and Bob were always together. They enjoyed each other's company and enjoyed their children and grand children. It was a special time for them because their children were going out on their own and starting their own families. The grand children soon followed in the seventies and eighties. Rob, Steve, Kelly, Melissa, Alex, Julia, Ben and Marie. There was also sadness for the family when Betty's mother Lillian passed away in July 1977. Bob's mother Mary died two years later.

Bob and Betty retired in the summer of 1980. They celebrated their retirement by taking a three-month cruise around the world. The cruises and other vacations became a part of their lives and they traveled everywhere including China, the South Pole, Africa, Scandinavia, and Alaska. Bob and Betty started a tradition by taking grandchildren with them on these vacations. During the summer of 1987, Betty and Bob invited all the children, their spouses and grand children on a week long Caribbean cruise.

Betty started a second career as a travel agent at Horizon Travel in McLean VA. She loved to travel so much that she wanted to help others fulfill their dreams. She was always looking for a new adventure to share with Bob. The pictures of her travels filled the house and she loved to share these pictures with school children and church groups.

Betty continued to host Sunday dinners at her house and invited her children and grand children. Her house was always full of people, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas. She always had an extra place at her table for whoever dropped by.

Betty was very active at First Presbyterian Church. Betty and Bob worshiped together every Sunday. She served as a deacon. In addition, she volunteered to deliver meals to shut ins and provided rides to anyone who needed a way to attend church.

Bob and Betty celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on September 13, 1991. They invited all of their friends and family to attend the celebration. Each guest received a copy of their wedding photograph taken 50 years earlier.

It was during a cruise in 1992 that Bob suffered a heart attack. Although he survived the heart attack, the doctors discovered a heart valve defect that was inoperable. Bob passed away suddenly on January 14, 1993 after spending time with his entire family during Christmas.

Bob's death took a toll on Betty. She felt the impact of losing her life-long companion and best friend. However, each passing day made her stronger and she continued to give to others. She continued to travel to new destinations including Turkey, Africa and Moldova. She continued to attend church and volunteer her time. Most importantly, she supported her family in every possible way. Sunday dinners were still special. She attended every important family event (i.e. weddings, graduations and baptisms).

In 1998, Betty moved from Arlington to Leisure World in Leesburg Virginia. She loved her new surroundings at Leisure World and all of her new friends in Leesburg. She joined women's clubs, St. David's Episcopal Church, and volunteered at Loudoun County Hospital to minister to patients.

She loved God and shared her love with everyone. Betty made so many new friends in Leesburg that within months she was totally immersed in her new surroundings, even though she stayed in touch with her friends in Arlington. Everyone knew Betty. She loved the new facilities at Leisure World, and especially her apartment on the ninth floor, the pool and La Pergola.

In February 2001, Betty had both of her knees replaced which gave her new mobility and energy. Even at the age of 82, she gave so much of herself to others. She was very active in her new church, attended church every Sunday, as well as mid week services and special events. She offered rides to people who needed rides to church, meetings or the shopping center. She continued to visit patients at Loudoun Hospital to share her love for God.

She often traveled to Indiana to visit her daughter Susan and her family. Susan and her husband Worth also made frequent visits to Virginia to visit Betty.

She lived near her sons and continued to attend all the important events of her grand children and great grand children. Betty's son Bob remarried in 1999 and as a result, Betty welcomed three new grand children to the family, Don, Christian and Jaimie Frye. Betty now had a total of eleven grand children.


Betty taught many wonderful children during her teaching career, but one student stands out because of her success on television. Betty was invited by NBC in November 2003 to surprise her student, Katie Couric, as part of a Today Show feature story which re-united cast members with important people from their past. Betty traveled to New York and appeared on the Today Show as part of the feature story. Betty and her grand daughter Marie spent the morning with Katie after the show talking and catching up on their lives.

Betty's family celebrated her 90th birthday with her in Leesburg on August 23, 2008. Almost all of her children, grand children and great grand children attended the celebration. She was very excited that so many people were there to wish her Happy Birthday.

The past nine months brought another change to Betty's life. Betty moved in with her son Bob and his wife Ruth. She loved her new surroundings and grew even closer to her family. Betty loved sitting on her deck and enjoying the surrounding woods and sky. When the sky was dark, she always believed it was getting brighter. Betty was aware that she was unable to recall the past as clearly as she wanted.

Betty celebrated her 91st birthday by attending Sunday worship service at St. Davids. At the end of the service, the entire congregation sang happy birthday to her. Betty loved the people at St. Davids very much and the special message on her birthday made her day extra special.

Betty's faith in God never faltered. She spoke about her life and her life after death. She anticipated her reunion with her husband Bob, her mother Lillian and her father George. She trusted God and continued to worship every Sunday, as often as she could. She loved her church, her friends and her family.

We believe that Betty is still with us and will continue to guide us just as she has in the past. We love her and we miss her, yet we celebrate her life as an inspiration for what we try to accomplish in the future.

Children
Bob and Ruth Lowry
Don and Virginia Lowry
Susan and Worth Weller

Grandchildren (Great Grandchildren)
Rob and Sarah Lowry (Grace, Robbie, Caroline)
Melissa (Lowry) and Matt Fowler (Luke, Skyler, Gabriel, Isaiah, Jacob, Mercedes)
Steve and Brandi Lowry (Caleb, Preston, Aiden)
Alex Lowry
Julia (Weller) and Chad Pfitzer (Adelina)
Ben Weller
Marie Weller
Donald Frye
Christian and Mindy Frye (Caleb)
Kelly Lowry
Jaimie Frye

Visitation will be Saturday, October 17 from 4 to 7 pm at Colonial Funeral Home, 201 Edwards Ferry Rd., NE , Leesburg. Funeral services will be Sunday, October 18 at 3 pm at St. David's Episcopal Church, 43600 Russell Branch Pkwy, Ashburn, VA, 20147. Burial will follow on Monday, October 19 at 1 pm at National Memorial Park,
7482 Lee Hwy, Falls Church, VA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to EverCare Hospice, 21515 Ridgetop Circle, Sterling, VA 20166, or to St. David's Episcopal Church .