CENTENARIAN

Alvin Lowry

Colbert

Alvin Leroy Lowry celebrated his 100th birthday with nearly 200 friends and family at the Chattaroy Community Church on May 15.

He was born May 18, 1904, in Marshall County, S.D.

He worked in the electrical power business and was a district manager for Idaho Power for many years. He later was the manager of Okanogan Public Utilities Department for more than 20 years.

His wife of 52 years, Bernice, died in 1979.

He met Zelpha Protz in Peoria, Ariz., while they were both volunteers at Southwest Indian School. They were married in 1983 and moved to Colbert in 1991.

Lowry has four children, Leah Bennett of Spokane, Philip Lowry of Fife, Wash., Stephen Lowry of Colbert, and Marilyn Cook of Mesa, Ariz.; five stepchildren, Charles Hewitt of Wiley, Colo., Sharon LaMacchio of Gresham, Ore., Shelley Tompkins of Smithville, Texas, and Larry Hewitt and Valarie Smith, both of Beaver Creek, Ore.; 13 grandchildren, 19 stepgrandchildren, 46 great-grandchildren, 22 stepgreat-grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren.

Alvin still helps around the house by vacuuming, doing yard work and shopping. When asked what has helped him live a long and healthy life, he says, “I have simply lived a healthful lifestyle.”

He says that in the last 100 years, “my most memorable moment was at the start of my career. I got a job working for Idaho Power during the Depression, when so many people were out of work.”