Phyllis Anne Lowry

Phyllis Anne Lowry (1949-2025)

Phyllis Lowry, a longtime Lakeland resident known for her indomitable wit, charitable fund-raising and devotion to family, died July 19, 2025, two days after she turned 76.

Her death was the result of recently diagnosed cancer.

Phyllis was a presence in and around Lakeland. She was co-founder of what came to be known as the "Chip for Education" golf tournament, staged annually for the benefit of Lakeland's St. Joseph Catholic School and its educational foundation. She co-chaired the event with her husband from 1992 to 2002.

Her charitable activities exposed her to a broad swath of friends who came to know her, both for her ability to get things done and her persistence in persuading others to help. She counted among her friends Hall of Fame football coach Hank Stram and Hall of Fame baseball manager Sparky Anderson, both of whom lent their names to her charitable activities. One of her closest friends was Monsignor John P. Caufield, Pastor Emeritus of St. Josephs.

But Phyllis also gained a reputation for the graciousness of her hospitality. Her home was often host to elaborate dinners and Super Bowl parties, with food personally prepared and meticulously planned for each occasion, whether for two or fifty. Her generosity extended beyond dinner parties. Her advice on personal matters was valued not only by her friends and her children, but by the friends of her children as well.

Phyllis was born in Washington, D.C. as Phyllis Anne Pusey on July 17, 1949, to Charles and Keturah Pusey. She shared a birthday with her father, along with his love of baseball. She was an avid fan of the Tampa Bay Rays and a frequent fan at Publix Field in Lakeland's Tigertown. Her parents, both of whom served in the military during WWII, are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Phyllis met her husband, Emory "Cody" Lowry, in Tampa in 1979. The two soon married that year and moved to Lakeland in 1982.

Phyllis enjoyed travel; and with her husband, a Tampa advertising executive, traversed the globe, from Spain and Italy to Russia and Australia and points in between. For 14 years the Lowrys maintained a vacation home on Lake Martin in Dadeville, Alabama, where she spent time gardening, cooking for visiting grandchildren and nursing a late life interest in carpentry.

But her most cherished role was that of grande dame of the Lowry family, which included four children and twelve grandchildren. Whether at baptisms or baseball games, she was a constant presence in their lives, and they all knew her as "Mimi." In the final days of her illness, she took pleasure in simply reeling off each grandchild's name.

Besides her husband and grandchildren Phyllis is survived by her four children: Marni Poe of Tampa; Cody Lowry, Jr., of Marietta, Georgia; Chelsea Taylor of Woodstock, Georgia, and Patrick "Kipp" Lowry of Lakeland. She is also survived by her brother, Allen Pusey of Dallas, Texas.

A funeral mass in her honor is scheduled for 10:30am on August 16, 2025, at Lakeland's St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Good Shepherd Hospice in Lakeland.