Margerete Virginia Lowe

Margerete Virginia (Howard) Lowe passed away on Saturday, July 1, 2017 at her home in Stockton, Kansas at the age of 95. She was born on April 2, 1922 on a farm south of Woodston, Kansas to the late Carl and Eva (Bemis) Howard. She always held special memories of going to school and growing up around Lenora, Kansas. Eventually the family moved to Stockton where she graduated from Stockton High School with the Class of 1939. On June 13, 1939 she was united in marriage to N. Efford Lowe in Stockton. They were blessed with five children, Darlene, Virginia, Nick, Cindy, and Kim. As a waitress and salesclerk, Margerete worked in the Stockton Hotel Restaurant, Bob’s Café, Webster’s Peter Pan/Supermarket, Smith’s Gift Shop, and nineteen years at Cindy Lou’s Main Street Café. To say that she liked to remain busy would be an understatement. Always community-minded she was affectionately known by one of her daughters as “Miss Stockton.” She was a member of the Main Street Christian Church, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, VFW Auxiliary, Century Club, Rooks County Historical Society, Stockton Alumni Association, and the Red Hat Society. Of the many jobs and responsibilities Margerete had, what she loved the most was being a devoted homemaker, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, and neighbor. As a young woman she and Efford enjoyed dancing the jitterbug to their favorite big band swing music. A great cook in her own right, her family often said, “She loved us with food.” And when it came to taking care of grandkids, spoiling them, spending time with them, loving and encouraging them, nobody did it better than her. Indeed, her family and friends were her life. Margerete is survived by her son Nick Lowe and wife Angie of Stockton; daughters Darlene Hartzler and husband Duane of Tucson, AZ, Virginia Angelovic and husband Bob of Loveland, CO, and Cindy Turnbull and husband Tony of Elk City, OK; fifteen grandchildren; twenty-seven great-grandchildren; thirteen step-grandchildren; and twenty-one great-step-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents Carl and Eva Howard, husband Efford Lowe, daughter Kim Ray, and sisters Lucille Zwonitzer and Celia Howard. It has been said, “Angels live among us. Sometimes they hide their wings, but there is no disguising the peace and hope they bring.” A lover and collector of angels, Margerete was also an angel who lived among us. Her love, devotion, friendship, and caring will live in our hearts for generations here, and for eternity hereafter. Memorials are suggested to Main Street Christian Church and may be sent in care of Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 723 N. First Street, Stockton, KS 67669.