Faith Patricia Lowe of Georgetown was born on Jan. 4, 1955 and went home to be with her Savior on Dec. 29, 2020. Faith was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, born-again Christian, missionary, nurse, instructor, friend, and so many other titles. She fought valiantly for several weeks but lost her battle due to complications with COVID-19 at Georgetown University Hospital, in Washington, D.C.
Faith was the daughter of the late Rev. Lester Carl Schleh and Mildred Vivian Schleh. She was welcomed into heaven with open arms by her loving parents who preceded her in death. Born a preacher’s kid and number five in the line of eight siblings, she was given the name “Faith” when her family moved to Manassas, VA to plant a new church while her mother was eight months pregnant and they needed faith that God would provide for their needs. When Faith was a teenager, her family moved to Milton and established roots at Grace Church which is affiliated with the Christian Missionary Alliance. Faith graduated from Cape Henlopen High School in 1973. She graduated from Toccoa Falls College with a degree in missionary nursing. She later went on to get her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Delaware State University and her Master’s in Nursing from the University of Delaware.
Throughout her nursing career she worked at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital, the offices of Dr. DeJesus and Dr. Jiloca, Nurses and Kids, Delaware Hospice, Bayhealth (Milford), and retired from Delaware Technical and Community College after teaching Nursing Pediatrics, Clinical, and Math and serving as the Clinical Coordinator for 25 years. She also taught post-retirement at Wesley College. She was beloved by students and faculty and known for her tough love and encouragement to her students. She believed in inspiring her students, colleagues, and friends to be the best nurses they could be. She was frequently consulted for nursing advice, and a trusted advisor to family members.
More than anything, Faith loved the Lord, helping people, and praying fervently. She believed in the power of prayer and inspired her family to live the rest of their days with the purpose of loving God, family, friends, and people. In her last days she reminded her family, “No matter how much time you have left, what do you want to accomplish in the moments you have?” Faith accomplished her purpose by dedicating her life to missions and loving people well. She had a missionary internship to Indonesia during 1978, but decided foreign missions was not her calling. Faith felt called to her local community. Faith was a faithful member of the Laurel Nazarene Church in Laurel since 1979. There, she served as the Missions Coordinator and the Director for the Laurel Nazarene Chapter of Code Purple. She dedicated her winters to Thanksgiving turkey drives with the Sunday Breakfast Mission and Code Purple, where she organized or personally provided a meal and a supervised warm shelter stay for the area homeless every night during the cold winter months. She also spent her retirement years volunteering her services for Love INC. at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown, an organization that helps churches help people with material, emotional, or relational poverty in their local communities to transform lives In the Name of Christ.
Known for her enigmatic smile and for organizing fantastic family reunions, Faith leaves behind her beloved husband of 41 years, Ralph V. Lowe, Jr., and her three children and their spouses, Melissa Lowe Christoph (Matthew) of Raleigh, NC, Jordan Lowe (Rachel) of Easley, SC, and Joshua Lowe (Monika) of Georgetown, DE. She is also survived by her pride and joy, her grandchildren, Jackson Maddox Lowe (8), Presley Rae Lowe (2), River Wyatt Lowe (5 mo.), and Chip Carter Lowe (3 mo.). Faith also leaves behind her dear brothers and sisters throughout the country, with whom she Skyped every week, Elizabeth “Betty” West (Clark) of Sun River, MT, Esther Haugen (Ned) of Winchester, VA, Grace “Becky” Sockriter (Ray) of Milton, John Schleh (Colleen) of Lima, OH, and Jim Schleh (Cindy) of Bozeman, MT, her sisters-in-love, Denise Burns (Barry) of Georgetown and Patricia “Patti” Deptula (Jim) of Georgetown, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her beloved sisters Janet Baker (Bradley) of Manassas, VA and Carolyn West (Whitney) of Decatur, IN.
Due to COVID, a limited private family graveside service will be held on Thursday, Jan. 14, at 2 p.m., at Union Cemetery, South Race Street, Georgetown. The family requests your understanding as they wear masks and observe social distancing and quarantining. Please do not attend if you are not invited and if you do not wear a mask properly. If you would like to view the service digitally, the family requests that you contact Melissa at mlowe6437@gmail.com for the service link or click on the following Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/jqz-zhbs-tbg. A Celebration of Life Service will be determined at a later date in June when it is safer to gather and travel.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be forwarded to Laurel Nazarene Church, PO Box 705, Laurel, DE 19956, online at https://laurelnazarene.org/giving/ and indicating your contribution is in memory of Faith Lowe or text GIVE to 302-286-9055 and following the instructions.