Submitted by
Loyd Bishop

DEATH OF MARK LOWERY

Mark Lowery, only child of Doctor and Mrs. A. Lowery, died at the family home in this city, Monday evening, at 9:15 o’clock. Mark had been ailing for a week or ten days but did not take to his bed until last Saturday, and his condition was not regarded as serious, until Sunday, when the lungs were attacked. Heart failure followed the lung trouble on Monday, and despite the watchful care of his father and the other physicians in the city, that attack proved fatal. Very few of the many friends knew of Mark’s illness until the announcement was made Monday afternoon that death was inevitable, and the people were still dazed from the report, when the second one announcing his death was made. It seemed incredible that a boy, the very picture of health and strength should be taken so soon, but the report proved all too true. Mark while not the quite fourteen years of age, had the physique and stature, of the average man, with his acumen, and was popular both with the young and old. As a member of the high school and later a student at the Baptist College, he was a favorite with teachers and pupils. He was every inch a boy, and to his jovial and kindly disposition predominated in his boyish sports and frolic, and while thoroughly alive to a boys privileges and pleasures, he was never unmindful, of the feelings of older people with whom he came in contact, and was endowed with the courtesy and affability so characteristic of the citizens of his native state. He was especially admired by the close personal friends of the family, and was idolized by the parents and other relatives.
Mark was proficient in his studies, and gave promise of being a valuable member of our business and social circles, and there was no plan of the parents that did not include his future. But now their hopes are blighted, and their respects to the living and the dead, and the funeral at the Baptist Church Wednesday afternoon was attended by the largest crowd ever assembled in the city for an occasion. The school, the college, the church, friends of the boy of his parents, from the city and from the country, all furnished their quota, and the outpouring was generous and the sympathy genuine. The services were commenced at 2 o’clock, but long before that hour the seats, aisles, the vestibule and the walk for a block outside were filled with people. The church decorations were out of the usual, and the floral tributes from schoolmates, friends, and relatives were costly and profuse. The sermon was by Rev. Gen. L. Hale, and was one of the most impressive discourses ever heard in the city, the matter being a personal one, as the speaker was a strong admirer of the dead boy. The music was touching and appropriate and was in itself a tribute to the memory of the deceased. Sympathy for the bereaved parents was visible on every face, and even the strangers in the city marked the universal sympathy and regret, and commented upon the esteem that must have called forth such a generous tribute.
The interment was in Odd Fellows cemetery, south of the city, and was witnessed by a large part of the crowd who attended the funeral. Many of the business houses closed during the services, and there were other evidences of the popularity of the deceased and his parents.
The public generally regrets and mourns the death of such a bright and promising boy, but their sorrow is unnamable in comparison with the great grief that overwhelms the parents and relatives; being an only child the whole love of the parents was centered upon him, and his life was so dear to them that their loss is irreparable; their very heart strings that were bound about him have been sundered and their anguish and pain knows no earthly solace. They have the consolation of the sympathy of all their friends, but the greatest consolation is the knowledge of the safety of their darlings soul, and the absolute certainty of a family reunion over there, where sickness and death is unknown, and where pain and suffering are excluded.
Mark Lowry was born in Carrsville, Livingston County, Kentucky, March 11th, 1888, and was a little less than 14 years of age at the time of his death. He came with his parents to this city in 1890, and died February 3, 1902, at 9:15 in the evening. Mark confessed his faith in Christ some 15 months ago, and was wholly conscious of the journey upon which he was embarking, and expressed himself as ready to go. [Mausoleum B Section Space 5]