Doctor Fuller was the youngest son of Rev. Calvin and Maria Sampson Lowry.

He married Jessie Mae Hatcher on Sep. 5, 1906 in Robeson County, North Carolina. Their marriage produced four sons and four daughters. His older brother, Rev. Edmond Lowry, married Jessie's older sister, Sally Helen Hatcher. After Jessie's death, he married Phelia Ellis Hunt.

He once served five Methodist churches in Bladen, Richmond, and Robeson Counties simultaneously and influenced the building of ten Methodist churches. He served as principal of Croatan Normal School from 1905 to 1906 and served as a trustee of Pembroke State University (now UNC at Pembroke) for over twenty years, and in 1965, its Students Center was named in his honor.

The following was taken from the Aug. 15, 1977 edition of THE ROBESONIAN:

Funeral services for the Rev. D. F. Lowry, 96, who died Saturday will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday at First United Methodist Church in Pembroke. Burial will be in the Lumbee Memorial Gardens.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Phelia Hunt Lowry; one daughter, Mrs. Ouida F. Lowry Bailey of Wayland, Mass.; four sons, Dr. Earl C. Lowry of Des Moines, Iowa, Kermit Lowry of Bristol, Tenn., Fred Lowry of Pembroke, Bruce Lowry of Dallas, Tex.; one sister, Mrs. Nancy Lowry Revels of Pembroke; 11 grandchildren.

Mr. Lowry survived his first wife, Mrs. Jessie Hatcher Lowry, by 36 years. Also deceased are three daughters, Mrs. Lessie L. Blakeslee, Mrs. Lorraine Evans, and Mrs. Cynthia B. Akers.

The Rev. J. J. Juren, pastor of First United Methodist Church, will officiate at the service. He will be assisted by the Rev. Lafon C. Vereen and the Rev. Harvey Lowry.

The family will be at Revels Funeral Home Monday from 6:30 - 9 p.m.

The following was taken from the Aug. 16, 1977 edition of THE ROBESONIAN:

A patriarch of Robeson County goes to his final resting place today. The Rev. D. F. Lowry has reached the end of a lifetime extending beyond the normal span. At 96, he had witnessed changes in the world about him that few men of his generation were privileged to see.

The first graduate of the Normal School at Pates in 1905, Lowry typefied interest in education among members of the Indian race in this county. He went on to business college and a university in other states, but returned to his native Robeson to make his career.

As a rural mail carrier and as a Methodist minister, Lowry worked among the people, serving their needs, sharing their sorrows, and sustaining their hopes. He became virtually a symbol of stability and survival. Meanwhile, the school he had attended grew into a university, helped along the way by his service as a trustee.

A patriarch, by dictionary definition, is "one of the elders or leading older members of a community," which he was. Also, "a venerable old man," which he was in part. Venerable, yes. Old, he never seemed to be. In his 90's, he remained an active participant in community and church affairs. Until his 90th birthday he left it up to other people to guess his age, and enjoyed their underestimation of it.

A man of strong convictions about religion, Lowry held numerous pastorates, conducted a radio program, wrote a "Know Your Bible" newspaper column. He could debate the meaning of the Scriptures with anyone, quoting chapter and verse to support his interpretations - some of them tradition, others reflecting his individual concepts.

A peaceable man, Lowry was proud of his family heritage. A nephew of the famous Indian outlaw, Henry Berry Lowry, he served his own generation in ways that befitted the changing times. He was a prime mover in winning recognition for the Indians of Robeson under the name Lumbee, derived from the river that flows through their homeland. He defended that name against attempts to get it changed, pointing out the distinction earned, here an in other parts of the country, by individuals identified with it.

In this, his last summer, a young Lowry with family ties in Robeson became the top graduate of Harvard College, with athletic as well as scholastic honors. An outdoor drama telling the story of the Indians ("Strike at the Wind") was just ending its second season, in an ampitheatre built on the site he had proposed for it. In his home town, the new buildings of Pembroke State University, the outgrowth of the little school in his youth, towered over the horizon.

Pursuing the even tenor of his ways, giving his leadership and support to the advancement of his fellow man, and his devotion to God, the Rev. Doctor Fuller Lowry lived to see the culmination of his patient and persistent efforts, and the translation of his vision into reality.

***NOTE: In 1905, he receive the first diploma for completing a "scientific course" of Latin, English, history, mathematics, and science from what is presently known as the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Prior to 1926, the school, then Croatan Normal School, provided primary and secondary education to Robeson County's Native American children. In July 2007, the Heritage Walk was dedicated to serve as a permanent monument to all of the university's graduates from 1905 to 1954. Rev. Lowry was honored by having his name engraved on a brick in the Heritage Walk walkway in front of Old Main, the oldest building on the campus.