Mary Lee Cope, arts promoter, volunteer
Services are set for Saturday, Dec. 17, for Mary Lee Lowry Cope, 91, of Philadelphia, a civic volunteer, who died Wednesday, Nov. 23, of complications from a stroke.
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Services are set for Saturday, Dec. 17, for Mary Lee Lowry Cope, 91, of Philadelphia, a civic volunteer, who died Wednesday, Nov. 23, of complications from a stroke.
She had lived in Chestnut Hill before moving in September to Cathedral Village in Roxborough.
A Philadelphia native, Ms. Cope graduated from Germantown Friends School in 1942, and earned an associate's degree in 1944 from Bradford Junior College in Haverhill, Mass.
She was a busy volunteer, serving on the women's committee at the Academy of Natural Sciences in the 1970s, and in the same role at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
While volunteering, she found ways to make Super Sunday, the first large-scale street event on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, into a fund-raising tool for nonprofit institutions lining the avenue.
"She was instrumental in getting the nonprofits to cooperate with each other," said daughter Susan W. Lowry.
Ms. Cope also helped establish the Museum of Art craft show in 1977, and later, the Highlands Mansion craft show in Fort Washington.
She served as a consultant for the Smithsonian Institution craft show and the Germantown Friends craft show.
Although she painted and used pastels to produce her own art works, her true passion was promoting the artistic creations of others.
"She was extremely social, engaging and persuasive," her daughter said. She was a nonconformist, but balanced that with excellent collaborative skills.
She was married for 30 years to William C. Lowry III, a business executive. The two divorced. He died in 1999. Their son Christopher M. died in 1959.
She was married for 19 years to Paul M. Cope Jr., an architect, who died in 2006.
Besides her daughter, she is survived by children William C. Lowry IV and Nancy P. Lowry; stepchildren Alison Cope and Peter Cope; four grandchildren; and two sisters.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, 20 E. Mermaid Lane. Burial is private.
Donations may be made to Planned Parenthood-Southeastern Pennsylvania via www.plannedparenthood.org.
610-313-8102