Mark Perrin Lowrey was born in Helena, AR on March 30, 1937 to Willis Freed Lowrey of Senatobia, MS and Helen Irene Rabb of Helena. Freed had migrated to Helena during the Depression and was a small business owner, while Helen was a legal secretary. Freed also served in the National Guard and was commissioned as an Infantry officer in 1939. He entered active duty in the U.S. Army in 1940, retiring in 1962. He fought with great distinction in both the Pacific and European Theaters in World War II and as an Infantry battalion commander in the Korean War. Mark’s namesake, Mark Perrin Lowrey of Mississippi, was his great, great-grandfather. A veteran of the Mexican War, he was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, commanding a brigade of Mississippi and Arkansas regiments in the division commanded by Patrick Cleburne. He fought in every major engagement of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, starting with Shiloh until the war’s end.
As an Army brat, Mark attended three high schools in three states, graduating in Columbus, GA in 1954. Two weeks later he enlisted in the Army. After basic training he was transferred to the USMA Prep School at Stewart AFB, NY. He entered West Point with the Class of 1959 on July 5, 1955. After a losing battle with the Math Department during the first semester of his plebe year, he was turned back and joined the Class of 1960 in the summer of 1956.
Three days after graduation Mark married the greatest blessing of his life, Sarah (Sally) Elizabeth Pope. In August, they went to Fort Benning, GA for the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Ranger and Jump schools. Next came the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Mark did the rounds as platoon leader of both rifle and weapons platoons, as well as a stint as the Company XO.
In 1963 he joined Special Forces. He and Sally went to Panama, where Mark served in the new 8th SF Group. For a year he taught “counter-guerrilla” tactics in Columbia, Peru, Bolivia and Panama. In December of 1964 he became the ADC to the new COMUSARSO, Major General Jim Alger ’35. For the next year and a half Mark spent over half his time on the road in all of Central and South America. It was time well spent in preparation for his yet unforeseen civilian career.
After finishing the Infantry Officer Advanced Course in 1967, it was off to Vietnam as a rifle company CO and battalion S3 in the First Infantry Division. In that first tour he was awarded a Silver Star, three Bronze Stars (one for valor), three Purple Hearts, six Air Medals (one for valor), two Commendation Medals (one for valor) and the Combat Infantryman Badge. His wounds included AK rounds in the left calf, left thigh, and left hip, and mortar round fragments in the right calf and back. After the hip wound, he was medevaced to Japan and then back to the United States. During that first month of convalescence he received some 20 letters from “kids in my battalion.” Mark truly loved Soldiers and the privilege of leading them in combat.
After a respite stateside with the XVIII Airborne Corps, he returned to Vietnam in 1968 and another Infantry assignment in the “Big Red One.” This tour resulted in four more Bronze Stars and a Commendation Medal (one of each for valor). The next six years found him back in Panama, with a break in the middle for CGSC. He finished his 20 years with a distinguished four years at USMA in the Alumni Affairs Office and a Legion of Merit for his contributions.
Upon retirement he surprised many as he entered the world of the trash business, with the same energy and aggressiveness he had always displayed as a Soldier. Joining Browning Ferris Industries in 1980 to help run their international businesses, he served as Vice President of BFI International and lived in Venezuela, Bermuda, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In the 1990s, he joined Waste Management Corporation and quickly rose to become the President of Waste Management, Latin America. He retired in 2002 but continued some part time consulting in international business.
Mark was an active leader with the Class of 1960 and served the AOG with distinction for many years as a trustee and as a member and chairman of various committees. A lifelong football fanatic, he was a perennial resident of the Superintendent’s Loge during Army football seasons.
His compassion was severely tested throughout his life. In the early years, he and Sally had to institutionalize their son, Mark Jr. In the later years it was Sally herself who needed the care of a nursing home. Mark visited her and had supper with her nearly every day.
Mark is survived by his wife, Sally; his daughters, Katherine (Kate) Henninger and Elizabeth (Liz) Dolan; his son, Mark Jr.; grandchildren Mary Kate Henninger Copeland, Meaghan Henninger, Julia Dolan, Edward J. Dolan; great-granddaughter, Maple Copeland; his brother, Freed Lowrey Jr.; and numerous cousins, nephews and nieces.
Mark did not just accommodate or embrace the vicissitudes of life, he attacked them ferociously. In Vietnam, it meant moving to the front and collecting more than his share of bullets and shrapnel. In his cadet days it meant leading small groups of cadets who needed extra instruction in “Night Time Patrolling” and “Escape and Evasion.” Throughout his entire life Mark embodied the principle of, “Move toward the sound of the guns.” Well Done, Mark; Be Thou at Peace.