Raymond Lowrey Obituary

It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Raymond Michael Lowrey, Sr. on Saturday, July 12th, 2025, surrounded by his family, at his home in Scotch Plains, NJ at the young age of 65.
Ray was born in Brooklyn, NY on January 6th, 1960, the first son of Raymond and Catherine (Philbin) Lowrey.
Ray was an easy-going, genuinely good person, liked by all who met him. He grew up proudly in Brooklyn, NY on East 38th St. alongside a trio of life-long best friends: Kevin McMahon, Tommy Kelly, and Bill Sullivan. He attended St. Vincent Ferer grammar school and graduated Midwood HS in 1978. When his family moved to Meyersdale, PA, Ray decided to remain in Brooklyn living with his Uncle Lee Lowrey, whom he adored, and who taught him many life lessons.
In 1985, he married Kathleen Doherty and they eventually left Brooklyn for Floral Park, NY where they began raising three sons: Matthew, Brian, and Raymond, Jr. They lived an idyllic life until, tragically, Kathleen succumbed to cancer in August 1995. The boys were only 2, 4, and 7 years old. His best friend's mother, Gereldine McMahon, immediately came to his aide helping him through a very difficult time, but Ray stayed strong and did what needed to be done for his children.
On Valentine's Day, 2000, he took a second wife, Christine Gee, also from Brooklyn. They'd grown up only 3 blocks from each other, with various familial connections, yet had never met back then. They moved to Scotch Plains, NJ and added another two sons, Jordan, and Declan, to round out the team. Again, life seemed great until, in 2022, Ray was diagnosed with Oral Cavity cancer. Ray said he knew this would cause his demise, but he fought valiantly for more time with his family.
A devoted husband and father, Ray was a good provider. He worked for NYC Sanitation, Local 831, for 20 years. Once retired there, he spent the next dozen years as custodian at Union Catholic HS in Scotch Plains, NJ making many good friends along the way.
Ray loved sports, especially baseball and golf and enjoyed sharing that love of sports with his sons, coaching their teams and attending their games, and hitting the links with his boys and friends. Ray also loved good food and had a hearty appetite – it was the thing he missed the most when the cancer took away his ability to eat, forcing him to consume via a gastric tube, a cruelty for such a foodie. Ray also loved taking his chances playing the lottery and, with the luck of the Irish, won big two times! Ray was also a devout Christian, a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church. He lived in a kind and generous manner, always thoughtful of others and ready to lend a hand. He cherished his family most of all and when his mother and his aunt, Mary Philbin, were ill and in need, he took them into his home to care for them.
Ray is predeceased by his parents, Raymond and Catherin (Philbin) Lowrey, his first wife, Kathleen (Doherty) Lowrey, his sister-in-law, Anne Kenny, his uncle Lee Lowrey, and his aunt Mary Philbin.
He is survived by his beloved wife Christine Gee, loving sons, Matthew, Brian, Raymond, Jordan, and Declan, his sister, Rita (Lowrey) Thomas, brother, Patrick Lowrey, sister-in-law's, Virginia Sullivan, Della Doherty, and Jodi Lowrey, brother-in-law's, Aaron Thomas, George Sullivan, Joseph Doherty, Neil Doherty, Mike Kenney, and many cherished nieces and nephews.
Friends may visit the family on Friday, July 18th from 4pm to 9pm at Memorial Funeral Home in Fanwood, NJ. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Saturday, July 19th, at 10:30am at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Scotch Plains, with burial to follow at Hazelwood Cemetery in Colonia, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, donations are gratefully appreciated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a charity dear to his heart. www.stjude.org/donate
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Raymond Michael, please visit our floral store.