Eddie Lowe

EDDIE “Ed” LOWE, 94, of Point Pleasant WV, passed away on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at home.  He was born on August 16, 1929, in Spencer, WV, a son of the late Jake and Thelma (Sinnett) Lowe.  In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Mary Ellen Sheriff and Martha Ann Lowe McGregor Peterson.

After high school, Ed joined the United States Army.  While in the Army, Ed was stationed in Alaska, where he worked on the first computer to ever be in Alaska and took many beautiful pictures of the Alaskan scenery.  After the Army, Ed engineered and built electrical substations across the Ohio Valley. He also was one of the engineers who oversaw and signed off on the Philip Sporn Power Plant in New Haven.  While working on the Power Plant, Ed lived at the Lowe Hotel, then owned by his cousin, Homer Lowe.  Ed then began working for IBM and remained with the company for thirty-six years.  While there, he led the engineering team that installed the first nationwide teleconferencing system for IBM.  

Ed came to Point Pleasant in 1995.  After he got settled into his new home, he asked Mario Liberato to recommend an organization for which he could do some volunteer work. After much discussion, it was determined that the best place for him would be with Main Street Point Pleasant.  In August of 1996, Ed began his new career as a Volunteer. He teamed up with Mark Philips, who was a Board Member at the time, to develop a website for Main Street. That website became the first website for the County, and is still operational today at www.pointpleasantwv.org. In fact, the original on-line presence for the Mason County Chamber was included in this work.  This team went on to publish the book “A Point in History,” which preserves the story of the Battle of Point Pleasant.

After getting off to this running start, Ed used his computer knowledge to, first upgrade the computers at Main Street, then combined all of the equipment at 305, the Development Authority, the Chamber and Main Street onto a network and then connected them to a single high speed Internet Service Provider – one of the first in the County. Along the way, he used his connection with IBM to get a Community Service grant of a new computer.

Ed’s work with the website renewed his interest in photography, which led him to explore and photograph the points-of-interest throughout the County.

The Main Street Board soon recognized Ed’s capabilities as a consultant on a variety of subjects and elected him to the Board and also appointed him to the Executive Committee, where he served diligently for fifteen plus years.

It wasn’t long until other organizations began to recognize the unique skill-set that Ed had to offer. The Chamber, the Farm Museum, the Tourism Committee, the River Museum, Fort Randolph, the Tu-Endie-Wei Park, the Regatta, the DAR & SAR along with Battle Days – to name a few - began to call upon him for help.

Not to be left out of a good thing, the City of Point Pleasant approached Ed to develop a website for the city. This site went live in 2003 and offered the Ordinances, Council minutes, directories, business & tax forms and other pertinent information for those that do business for, or with the city. This site was recognized as one of the best for a city the size of Point Pleasant. Stan Burdette made the comment when he was City Clerk, that Ed brought “Point Pleasant into the Twenty-First Century”. And he did this without receiving any compensation, other than a “thanks” and the feeling that he had made a major contribution toward improving the City’s operation.

Ed was also instrumental in obtaining funding and grants for technology at the Point Pleasant River Museum and Main Street through the IBM Community Service Grant Program. This program was available to employees and retirees who make significant contributions in volunteer hours to the Non-Profits in their communities and Ed certainly made “Significant Contributions” to the Mason County community.

For the past almost 30 years, Ed has captured every major (and some minor) event in Mason County with his skills as a photographer. In February 2007, the River Museum recognized Ed’s artistic side by mounting an exhibit of over 100 of his photographs. Ed has won recognition for his photographs in various contests, the highest being a first-place award in the Wildlife Division in the National Association of Conservation Districts Photo Contest. He referred to his photographic work as “Recording Tomorrow’s History”. He has taken over 570,000 images since he went digital in October of 2002 – most being of events in Mason County. He has been published in several magazines including, Wonderful West Virginia Magazine as well as the Mason County Tourism Guide. His images are on display in the Tourism Info Center, the River Museum and the Gift Shop at Fort Randolph. And of course, his “Year in Review” images for the Chamber Banquet made each banquet much more informative and interesting. In fact, if one looks at just about any publicity publication promoting Mason County, several of Ed’s photographs will be found in them.

Everyone who knew Ed knows that he approached everyone as his equal, be it Bank President, Congresswoman, Director, clerk or a street sweeper. He provided services, gave advice and answered their questions; while carefully listening and observing. He paid attention to the details. And he did everything he did for the community and so many organizations without any thought of profiting on his part.

Ed was once recognized by the Presidents Program to promote volunteerism, with a “Presidents Call to Service Award” for contributing over 12,000 hours of volunteer service – with nearly every one of these hours were performed in Mason County.  In 2012, Ed was awarded the Mason County Spirit of the Community Award by the Mason County Community Foundation and that same year he was recognized as a WSAZ Hometown Hero.   

Ed will certainly be missed by his many friends and colleagues in Mason County. 

Ed is survived by a niece, Rita (Dean) Ellis of Delray Beach, Florida, a nephew Charles (Maureen Whelihan) Walker of Boynton Beach, Florida, cousins, John Boggs of Indianapolis and Sharon Lamb of New Albany, Ohio; two stepsons, Jeffrey (Randi) Rose of West Columbia and David Rose (Mike Johnson) of Chillicothe; step-grandchildren Trinity Rose and Kaylee Patrick and three great grandkids Sawyer, Kase and Mac Patrick; great nephew Marshall Lowe of Largo, Florida, great niece Brandy Ellis of Delray Beach, Florida, great niece Amy Ellis of Little Rock, Arkansas, and great nephew Charley (Kristin) Walker of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  

At Ed’s request, there will be no funeral services.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Eddie Lowe, please visit our floral store.