#IraPate March 11
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For March 2024 several of us will be participating in the “30-Day Shout-Out Coach4aday Challenge”. Today the recipient is IRA PATE LOWRY.
In 1977 I was moving to Pembroke, NC from Greenville, NC to accept a new job as Assistant Basketball Coach and Lecturer at UNC Pembroke. At that time the university was named Pembroke State University. I was going to be paid $10,000 a year so I needed to find a place to live that was affordable. In finding a place to live I got a landlord and man who treated me as a friend.
That landlord was Ira Pate Lowry and his wife Reba Millsap Lowry. There photos are below.
Rules of the Challenge
Organizing and participating in the 30-Day Shout Coach4aday Challenge is very simple. Below are the steps.
Here is how to participate.
- Identify who gets the daily Shout-Out and make sure they know you are recognizing them.
- Describe why you giving them a Shout-Out-what are they doing that is notable?
- Do this daily for 30 Days posting on social media with the hashtag #Coach4adayChallenge
If you need ideas on how to give someone a daily shout-out here is a link on LinkedIn with some ideas that are good for the workplace.
March 11th-Reba and Ira Pate Lowry
“Hail to UNCP,” the alma mater of UNC Pembroke, was written in 1954 by professors Ira Pate Lowry ’29 and Reba M. Lowry. They just happened to be my landlords on West 3rd Street when I arrived in Pembroke NC. The rent was $90.00 a month.
Ira Pate Lowry, grew up in the Elrod community south of Pembroke, NC. He organized and served as the chair of the Pembroke State Music Department from 1935-57. In 1954, he wrote the music to Hail to UNCP for the lyrics written by his wife. He left Pembroke State in 1957 and taught music at Pembroke Senior High School until his retirement in 1971.
Reba came to Pembroke from Tennessee. She was an instructor in the Foreign Language Department, advisor to The Indianhead, first Dean of Women, director of the Pembroke Players and women’s basketball coach. She was also the first woman to join the Chancellor’s Club.
The Lowry’s loved “the college” as they called it. When Reba died Ira Pate wanted to create a legacy gift to her. He came up with the idea of “the college” having a clock tower with carillon bells. The Lowry Bell Tower became that gift. It is located on the UNCP campus next to Old Main, and in the middle of The Quad. The Lowry Bell Tower has been a campus landmark since its dedication on May 10, 1981.
When I walk past the Lowry Bell Tower I think about my friend Ira Pate Lowry and the wife that he adored. The link below will take you to the UNC Pembroke Alma Mater “Hail to UNCP”
The residence and apartments that once welcomed me upon my arrival in Pembroke, NC, have vanished into memory, along with the gracious Lowry family, who served as my landlords. Though their physical presence may be gone, their warmth and hospitality remain etched in my heart. Hail to the Lowrys, so courageous, tried and true.
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