August 5, 2024

OBITUARY: Brother Augustine Paul Lowe, CP; served in West Springfield

REGIONAL
Staff report

JAMAICA, NY – Brother Augustine Paul Lowe, a Passionist brother of the St. Paul of the Cross Province of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, passed away on July 29, 2024 in Fresh Meadows, N.Y. He was 82 years old.

Born on February 11, 1942 in Holyoke, he was baptized at St. Jerome Parish. Later the family became parishioners of Holy Cross Parish, also in Holyoke.

Brother Lowe was the son of the late James Lowe and Evelyn Kelly Lowe and the brother of the late Richard Lowe. In addition to the members of his religious congregation, Brother Lowe leaves his brother James Lowe of South Hadley and his sister Virginia Costello and her husband John of Sundance, Wyo. Brother Lowe was also uncle to two nieces, Heather and Kelly, and uncle to four nephews, Benjamin, Josh, Jeffrey, and Ryan. He is great uncle to James and Grace Dulude.

Brother Lowe attended Holyoke Catholic High School from 1956-1960. He then entered the Passionist novitiate in the Junior Brothers Program in 1962. He proclaimed on March 4,1962 his First Vows as a Passionist and his Final Vows on March 4, 1965.

His initial two years of Passionist ministry between 1965 and 1967 were as the infirmarian at Our Lady of Sorrows Passionist Monastery and Retreat Center in West Springfield. Brother Lowe’s administrative skills benefited his religious community throughout the years as he fulfilled the duties of receptionist and administrative assistant from 1967 to 2013.

He ministered in Union City, N.J.; North Palm Beach and Orlando, Fla.; Baltimore, Md.; West Springfield, Mass.; Jamaica, N.Y.; and West Hartford, Conn. Of particular note was his many years of ministry to the people of the Diocese of Orlando, Fla. as administrative assistant to the late Bishop Norbert Dorsey, C.P.

In 2013, he joined the Passionist community at Our Lady of Florida in North Palm Beach and was an active member there until 2023 when he took up residence at the Passionist Monastery of the Immaculate Conception in Jamaica, N.Y.

Wake services will be held at Immaculate Conception Monastery Chapel, 86-45 Edgerton Blvd. Jamaica, N.Y. on Sunday, August 11, 2024 from 5-8 p.m.

A Mass of the Resurrection will then be held on Monday, Aug.12, 2024 10:30 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Parish Chapel, 86-45 Edgerton Blvd, Jamaica, N.Y.

Burial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 412 Tinkham Road, Springfield.