Richard Lownes, mortician
Richard Dunlap Lownes Sr., 86, formerly of Lafayette Hill, a third-generation funeral director in the Philadelphia suburbs, died Monday, Oct. 24, of lung cancer at Peter Becker Community in Harleysville, where he had lived for 15 years.
Richard Dunlap Lownes Sr., 86, formerly of Lafayette Hill, a third-generation funeral director in the Philadelphia suburbs, died Monday, Oct. 24, of lung cancer at Peter Becker Community in Harleysville, where he had lived for 15 years.
For more than four decades, Mr. Lownes ran the Lownes Family Funeral Home, whose clients mainly came from Philadelphia and Montgomery County.
Blessed with the gift of making strangers feel at home almost from the minute he met them, Mr. Lownes was a natural as a mortician, said son Randall.
Mr. Lownes' purpose was to serve clients regardless of their financial status and keep funeral costs down.
"He would help anyone at any time," Randall Lownes said.
The Fairmount-based Dunlap-Lownes Funeral Home was founded in 1888 by William A. Dunlap, Mr. Lownes' grandfather. In 1950, Gladys Dunlap Lownes, daughter of the founder and Mr. Lownes' mother, moved the establishment to 659 Germantown Pike, Lafayette Hill.
Mr. Lownes ran the business until retiring in 1992, when Randall Lownes took over. Randall's son, Wesley, is the fifth-generation family member to be involved in the enterprise. Randall changed the name of the business to its present form.
Born and reared in Roxborough, Mr. Lownes graduated from Roxborough High School, where he received the Outstanding Athlete Award in 1946 and 1947 for performance in track and football.
He graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, the Northwestern University School of Funeral Management near Chicago, and H.E. Dolan College of Mortuary Science in Philadelphia.
Because of his mortuary training, Mr. Lownes served during the Korean War in Germany, processing casualties for the Army's Graves Registration Division. He became so adept at embalming that once he returned stateside, he became a go-to for other funeral directors who needed expert advice.
"Call Dick Lownes, he'll know what to do," his son said others understood. "He was very proud" of that skill.
Mr. Lownes was a busy civic volunteer and church member. At St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Lafayette Hill, he was a leader and chairman of many turkey suppers over the years.
He was a member of the Whitemarsh Community Ambulance Association, Barren Hill Volunteer Fire Company, Whitemarsh Jaycees, and the Kiwanis Club of Roxborough, and a board member of the Northwestern Institute of Psychiatry, Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia, and the Montgomery County Big Brother Association, which now includes Big Sisters.
He was a Masonic Home of Pennsylvania board member from 1974 to 1989. During that time, he was assigned to the institution's grounds, property, and admission committees.
A 38-year employee of the home, which became Masonic Village at Lafayette Hill in 2004, described Mr. Lownes as a "total gentleman who was always looking out for someone else."
Starting in the early 1970s, he served as a Whitemarsh Township supervisor for 11 years. Under his guidance, the township created a police pension fund.
A "true foodie," he loved to cook and go out to dinner, his son said.
Besides his son, he is survived by his wife, Nancy Morrison Lownes; children Ruthann M., Richard D. Jr., and Robert S.; and seven grandchildren.
Visitations from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at Lownes Family Funeral Home, 659 Germantown Pike, Lafayette Hill, and from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 3025 Church Rd., Lafayette Hill, Pa. 19444, will be followed by an 11 a.m. funeral Saturday at the church. Burial is private.
Donations may be made to the church at the address above.
610-313-8102