PASSAGES: SARAH LOWERY, DEMOCRATIC LEADER

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October 15, 2011 (Santee) – Born in San Diego on the 4th of July in 1925, Democratic leader Sarah Lowery passed away on October 5, 2011 of congestive heart failure. Active in politics at the local, state and national levels, the Santee resident was known for her passionate advocacy of civil rights and equality for all individuals.  In 2001, the San Diego Democratic Party honored Lowery with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

“She was a great patriot who believed so strongly in democracy that she wanted everyone to participate,” Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) reflected.

 

A resident of Santee, she served as an elected member of the San Diego Democratic County Central Committee for nearly 30 years and on the California Democratic Party Executive Committee for 20 years. She also served as a Democratic National Convention delegate in each presidential election year from 1976-2002 and ran as the Democratic candidate for California’s 77th Assembly District in 2002, endorsed by President Jimmy Carter.
 

She organized the Jimmy Carter Democratic Club in 1976 and served as Co-Chair of his presidential campaign in San Diego County twice. During his presidency, she organized White House visits for San Diegans. Lowery also worked on the campaigns for Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin and State Senator Wadie Deddeh. She served as assistant to Councilwoman Lucy Killea in San Diego and for the Registrar of Voters, retiring in 1994 as senior supervising clerk.
 

Born in San Diego to Edward B. Contreras and Ruth Fernisa de Almenara, she moved to Mexico after her mother’s death and was raised by her grandmother in Mexico City. She was a fourth generation native Californian and third-generation native San Diegan.

 

During World War II, she returned to San Diego and embarked on a career as a photographic colorist. She also worked in a tuna packing plant and listed her values as “pro-union: values good living wages, equality and justice for all,” according to the League of Women Voters Smart Voter profile. She also called for a first-rate education for every California child, lowering senior citizens’ health care costs, and believed that “good government must reach as many people as possible, spending our taxes wisely to benefit everyone.

 

In 1949, she married Jearlee Lowery; the couple had four sons. She worked as a hostess and manager in the restaurant industry while beginning her long political career. Lowery was also an active volunteer at University Hospital, where she raised funds for charities.
 

She is survived by her sons, Guy Lowery of San Juan Capistrano, Rex Lowery of Ramona, Jearlee Jr. of Oregon and Raoul of San Diego, 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
 


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