Jo Lower, of South Hadley, completed a long and purposeful life on February 18, 2018, dying peacefully in the comfort of her home and with her loving spouse and a dear friend at her side. Born in Bryn Mawr, PA on June 5, 1935 to George Graffley Lower and Emily Hallauer Lower, both teachers, Jo spent many of her childhood summers in Woods Hole, MA, where her parents were active with the Children’s Science School and the Marine Biological Laboratories. Her high-energy love of science, the ocean, and the mountains full of snow was a thread woven throughout her life-as a child exploring tidal pools with her father, as a sailing instructor on Martha’s Vineyard, as a much-loved science teacher at Northampton High School for 32 years, as an expert skier and instructor and as a person who dove with abandon into life.
An accomplished athlete in many sports, Jo earned four varsity letters in each year of secondary school at Westtown School, PA and at Bucknell University, where Jo earned her BS in Biology (’57) and was a member of Kappa Delta sorority. Jo moved to Northampton, MA in 1960 to teach science at the High School and she began to volunteer on Ski Patrol at Berkshire Snow Basin. She became the first female elected to the National Ski Patrol Board, and later became a ski instructor at Mt. Tom, teaching skiing to young children and adults for two decades. Jo’s shoes will still be found at Tuckerman Ravine on Mt. Washington, where she left them before skiing down decades ago. Her many students will still remember her challenging them to learn, leaping onto a chair to make a point, and telling them that she didn’t care if they wore only long underwear to school as long as they would come and learn and be themselves.
After retiring from teaching at Northampton High School, Jo earned the nick-name “St. Jo” due to her love of animals. A true dog-whisperer, she would drive her Jeep throughout the Pioneer Valley to pick up 8 or more dogs of all sizes and breeds and then walk them on woodland trails, fully in control via only verbal commands. In the last year, as her health diminished, she delighted in looking out the window, watching Cardinals, Hairy Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, and other birds at the feeder in the backyard, with a dog pressed by her side.
Jo is survived by her devoted spouse of 25 years, Joanna Brown, and a loving extended family: her brother George Lower and his spouse, Nancy Lower, her sister-in-law Susan Bell, her nieces and nephews (and spouses) who always thought of her as the “cool” Aunt: Cheryl Lower, George Bell (Cedrine), Charla Lower, Gordon Bell (Bethany White), Emily Lower, Cindy Weber, Doug Bell (Joan Marie), and Elizabeth Lavenue (Myra), and grand-nieces and nephews: Erin Coonahan, Anastasia White, Alison Bell, Tolson Bell, Catherine Bell, Charlotte Bell, Owen Coonahan, Aria Lavenue, Lucie Bell, Emilie Bell, Mitchell Coonahan, Shea Bell, Guillaume Bell, Claire Lavenue, and Elena Bell.
She is also survived by her close friends Georganne Greene and Andrea Kandel and their daughter, Annie Kandel, Dr. Nora Wilcox, Janey Gordon, Andrea Reber, Professor Emeritus and the Reverend Gloria G. Lomax, Almaneta Lee, Bob and Dorothy Green, Ted and Nancy Kurtz, Jack and Priscilla Finn, Deedie Steele, Leslie Dubinsky and Carol Ranzel-Wallace, Michael Sugerman, Jampa Latso, Emmanuel Morales, and Maiko Otake Nauroth. Jo was pre-deceased by her sister, Jeanne Bell, and her brother-in-law, Guy Bell.
Jo was grateful to have belonged to the Unitarian Society of Northampton for nearly 30 years. It was in that supportive community where she met her spouse, Joanna, and in which their Ceremony of Union was held and witnessed by 130 relatives and friends in 1996. In 2004, when same-gender marriage became legal in Massachusetts, they immediately applied for and received their marriage license, 12 years after they had made their life-commitment to each other.
Friends, neighbors, former colleagues and students, and others who knew and loved Jo are invited to attend a non-denominational Celebration of Life service on Saturday, June 9 at 11 a.m. at the Unitarian Society of Northampton, MA, 220 Main Street, to be followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Northampton Education Foundation (to support Northampton Public Schools) https:northamptoneducation.org or the Dakin Humane Society, https:dakinhumane.org or Baystate Hospice https://www.baystatehealth.org/giving (then select Baystate Home Health-Hospice).
Our sincere condolences.
The staff of Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home.
Dear Joanna, I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss. Thinking of you at this difficult time.
Joanna, I extend my heartfelt condolences to you upon the passing of your spouse, Jo. From my encounters with Jo at the Unitarian Society, I learned how good and loving person she was. I was so happy for both of you when you were able to celebrate your marriage, finally. Joanna, your devotion as a spouse was inspiring to me during the years of Jo's declining health. Your love was strong and persevering during that time of challenge. I hope that I can attend the memorial service. Please stay in touch. You have been a supportive, caring friend to me over many years. Thank you.
I remember Joyce as a friendly happy, very athletic class mate. God bless you, Joyce, Edaik Rinden Holley, fellow classmate '53
To Joanna and other family members, You have my sincere condolences; I hold you all in the Light. I have always remembered that Joyce (as we knew her) was the first Westtown student that I met. My parents had to bring me, a shy student from North Carolina who knew no one at Westtown, and leave me to stay at The Farmhouse from Saturday morning until the dormitories opened on Tuesday. Teacher Rachel called Joyce and asked her to come over and meet me. So on Sunday afternoon Joyce came pedaling up on her bike and took me on a tour of the school -- she pedaled and I walked. I don't think that we even had a class together, but I felt that I had a bond with her because of that Sunday afternoon visit in 1951.
Joanna, So sorry to hear about Jo's passing. I wish you peace of mind and heart. Blessings to you. Kara Kapinos
In memory of Jo Lower, Hattie and Leon Bradlow lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Leslie Dubinsky lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Amy Fay lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Annie Kandel lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Doug McGetchin lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Miguel Menendez & family lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Juli Kinsman lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Cheryl & Stew Berman lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Jampa lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Peggy Mientka lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Georganne Greene lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, San lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Sage lit a candle
In memory of Jo Lower, Sarah Buttenwieser lit a candle
Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home
Our sincere condolences.
The staff of Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home.