Vernon H. Lowell

Vernon H. Lowell, known to friends and family as Vern, was a Wisconsin Army veteran, longtime insurance industry employee and dedicated community volunteer whose later years were defined by a deep commitment to gardening, conservation and civic life in the Madison area. He was not a public figure in the national sense, and his story is one familiar to many in his generation: a small town upbringing, a tour of duty in Vietnam, a long career, and decades of quiet service to local organizations.

Lowell was born on June 30, 1942, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, the son of Ruth and Lawrence Lowell. As a teenager he worked in a local clothing store, where he earned a reputation as the best dressed student in his high school, a habit of care in appearance that friends said stayed with him for the rest of his life. He went on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1960, earning a bachelor's degree in history while holding a series of deferments from military service during his college years.

That changed in 1968, when Lowell joined the United States Army. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant and served in the Vietnam War, where he was awarded a Bronze Star. He was also exposed to Agent Orange during his service, a detail that his family highlighted in describing his military record. He completed his final months of active duty at Arlington Hall Station in Virginia. In that same year, 1968, he married Sylvia Christensen, beginning a marriage that would last 58 years.

After his discharge from the Army, Lowell and his wife settled in the Madison area, where he spent 30 years working for CUNA Mutual, the credit union insurance company now known as TrueStage. He took early retirement to devote himself to a wide range of personal interests, including camping, canoeing, gardening, traveling and reading. He became an active member of First Baptist Church in Madison and threw himself into local horticultural life, belonging to the Wisconsin Garden Club Federation, the Mound Vue Garden Club in Mount Horeb, the Wisconsin Daylily Society and the Wisconsin Hosta Society. He was also a longtime member of Toastmasters. Those who knew him described a man who cared deeply about environmental protection, to the point that he wanted his own impact on the planet to be as small as possible.

Vernon H. Lowell died peacefully on October 2, 2026, at the age of 84. His death was announced through an obituary published by Cress Funeral and Cremation Service in Madison, Wisconsin. The cause of his death has not been made public. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Sylvia, his sister Sandy Gray, several in-laws, nephews and nieces, and a number of great and great-great nieces and nephews. Friends and family have remembered him as a man of warmth, discipline and quiet generosity, whose love of the outdoors and sense of service to his community left a lasting impression on those around him.