Gordon Kemmery Lowry died Monday, September 5, 2016, at Midland Care at Linwood Park Assisted Living in Valley Falls, Kansas.

Gordon was born July 25, 1918, in Meade, Kansas, the son of James C. and Ruby E. Kemmery Lowry.  He lived in Meade until moving to Topeka in 1934 and graduated from Topeka High in 1936.  

Gordon graduated from Washburn College where he played basketball.  His law studies were interrupted by service in the United States Navy in World War II.  After graduation from the Midshipman program, he completed amphibious training and led boat groups during invasions in the Marshall Islands, Saipan, and Palau, and Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.  He rose to the rank of First Lieutenant and received the Bronze Star for actions in the Saipan invasion and the Purple Heart for wounds suffered at Palau.

Gordon graduated from Washburn Law School following the war and served as law clerk to The Hon. Walter A. Huxman of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In 1947 he opened a law office in Valley Falls and practiced until 2005.  He was a member of the Jefferson County, Kansas, and American Bar Associations and served as President of the City Attorneys Association of Kansas.  He was also active in organizing watershed districts in northeast Kansas and providing counsel to electric cooperatives.  He was a member of the Valley Falls Rotary Club from 1947 until his death, was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow and held the office of Rotary District Governor in 1956-1957.  He sat on Boards for the Jayhawk Area Council of Boy Scouts, the Washburn University Alumni Association, the Valley Falls Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross, and the Salvation Army.  He was a member of the Valley Falls United Methodist Church and held offices including Sunday School Superintendent for many years.

He married Margaret Huffman June 21, 1941.  They enjoyed 73 years of marriage until her death August 31, 2014.  He is survived by two daughters, Susan Lowry (Richard Armin) of Toronto, Canada and Lynne Lowry (Donna Sanker) of Long Beach, California, three sons, Gordon Kemmery Lowry, Jr. (Junko) of Honolulu, Hawaii, James Corwin Lowry (Cathy) of Lenexa, Kansas, and Stuart Scott Lowry (Lauren) of Hays, Kansas.  He is also survived by granddaughters Jaime McGinnis Lowry and Meghan Dorsey Lowry, grandsons, Cameron K. Lowry, James Bryce Lowry, Gordon Connor Lowry, John Griffin Lowry, Jack Thompson-Sanker and Ryan Thompson-Sanker, and great-grandsons Skyler James Lowry and Duncan Sloan.  He is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

Memorial Services will be held Friday, September 9, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. at the Valley Falls United Methodist Church.  Visitation in the church basement will be from 10:30 a.m. until service time.  Inurnment will be at the Valley Falls Cemetery at 2:00 p.m.  Military honors will be conducted by Grahem-Herbers Post 3084 Veterans of Foreign Wars.  

Memorials may be made to the Valley Falls United Methodist Church, Jefferson County Friends of Hospice, or the Washburn Law School Foundation and sent  c/o Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 6, Valley Falls, Kansas  66088. Online condolences are welcome at www.mercerfuneralhomes.com.