ANGÈLE MARIE LOWI of Ithaca, NY, died of heart failure on Saturday, July 4, 2015, at 8:50pm ET, just as the evening’s first fireworks began to light up the sky.
She leaves behind an adoring family that includes her husband, Theodore J. Lowi; daughter and son-in-law Anna Lowi and R. Daniel Ferguson; son Jason; sister Jacqueline Tsarnas; brother and sister-in-law Joseph and Janet Daniel; sister-in-law Candida Hodge; brother Alain Hodge; and countless devoted in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, godchildren, and dear friends the world over. She is also survived by Mr. Skeffington, a plucky, overfed terrier mix whose company she and Ted delighted in for the past six years.
Angèle was born on Saint Barthélemy, in the French Antilles, though we will not reveal the year: She preferred a bit of mystery. She grew up there and on the neighboring island of Saint Martin, with her doting parents, Fernand and Florise Daniel; fairy godmother, Elise Haze; aunt Aurelie de Weever and cousin Agnes (Phelipa); and her sister and brothers. She moved stateside, to Queens, to further her education, taking up residence with her beloved aunt Amélie Devir and cousins John and Alfred. No matter where she called home, the clear blue sea and white sand beaches of her Caribbean childhood always fueled warm and happy memories.
In 1959 Manhattan, Angèle’s path crossed with Ted’s when he tried to pick her up in the building where they both worked, inviting her to share his ice cream – Ted’s favorite addiction until meeting Angèle. She responded by turning him down and out of her office. Angèle would eventually look past that disastrous first encounter and turn it into a partnership of 52 years; she was an impeccable judge of character.
She and Ted would go on to be great adventurers, traveling the world together from Beijing to Budapest; Naples to New Orleans; Paris, France, to The Paris Hotel, Las Vegas.
Angèle believed in luck; Rachel Maddow; and that together, good bread, butter, and cheese are their own essential food group. She also believed that generosity is the secret to true happiness – and that love and chicken soup conquer most things.
She deplored bullies, hypocrisy, Fox News, and unheated pools. And while she lived for Ithaca summers, she loathed winter – save for Cornell Hockey: She and Ted were among the most rabid Lynah Faithful for more than 40 years.
Angèle was an exceptional cook and a gardener of the first order, creating at home an oasis in almost constant bloom. Her dedication to her botanical interests even drove her to smuggle in the occasional exotic plant (don’t ask).
She loved too many things to list, but taking care of her extended family was her true calling. She was a champion of and confidant to many, an informal adoptive parent to many more. She was thoughtful, kind, smart, silly, loyal, funny, and wise. She was fiercely loved and will be deeply missed.
Angèle’s life will be celebrated in a pair of memorial services later this or early next year, in the US and in St. Barths.*
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations might be made in Angèle’s name to Doctors Without Borders at donate.doctorswithoutborders.org
Originally published in The Ithaca Journal | 14 July 2015
*Memorial service plans will be shared via email and posted to this site once confirmed.