By Staff
Eileen Lowe passed away May 30, 2009, after a short illness. Eileen was born in Ayr, Neb., on June 21, 1927, to George Carper and Martha Stauffer. She was the second of five children. She married Henry (Mac) McClure on Oct. 26, 1947, in Haxtun, Colo. After 40 years of marriage that included moves to Kentucky, Eastern Colorado and Oakley, Kan., Eileen became a widow the day after Christmas in 1987. She is survived by three children, Becky (Michael) Brower of Syracuse, Ind., Randy (Julie) McClure of Bellevue, Wash., Marla (John) Kappus of Denver and seven grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother Jim Carper and sisters Rachel Einspahr and Carol Smith. Eileen married Frank Lowe on Sept. 21, 1991, in Idaho Springs. They moved to Sequim, Wash., in 2000 to be near Frank’s daughter, Roberta (John) Griset. Frank preceded her in death.
Eileen was born in the Depression to a farm family. They homesteaded in Colorado because of the Dust Bowl when she was 13. Three years later her mother put her on a bus to Denver to attend business college. The skills she learned brought her satisfaction and employment the rest of her life. She was a woman ahead of her time. She saw her mother suffer from wearing shoes that didn’t fit and always insisted on sensible shoes so she could walk. There were times when life was disappointing; her father died young, the time she and Mac lost the store, and later when she lost her husbands, but her spirit was always generous and welcoming. One of her great joys after she lost her ability to go walking was to write a note and send a card to someone she was thinking about. Eileen is missed by her immediate and extended family and friends. Eileen offered food to hundreds of hummingbirds by refilling their feeder with a half-gallon of sugar water each day.
