Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lowry as a brigadier general, circa 1936 | |
| Born | August 27, 1893 St. Augustine, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | February 3, 1985 (aged 91) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Buried | Woodlawn Cemetery, Tampa, Florida |
| Allegiance | United States Florida |
| Service/ | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1952 |
| Rank | Major General (National Guard) Lieutenant General (Florida, retired list) |
| Unit | Florida National Guard |
| Commands | Company H, 2nd Florida Infantry Regiment Company H, 124th Infantry Regiment Company I, 331st Infantry Regiment 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment Benjamin Field Military Post 116th Field Artillery Regiment 56th Artillery Brigade, 31st Infantry Division 31st Infantry Division Artillery 51st Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | Pancho Villa Expedition World War I |
| Awards | Army Distinguished Service Medal Bronze Star Medal |
| Alma mater | Virginia Military Institute |
| Spouse(s) |
Elizabeth Bellamy Parkhill
(m. 1916; died 1942)Ivilyn Ingram (m. 1945) |
| Children | 5 |
| Other work | Insurance executive |
Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (August 27, 1893 – February 3, 1985) was an American insurance executive, National Guard officer, and political candidate from Florida. A veteran of the Pancho Villa Expedition, World War I, and World War II, he is best known for his service as commander of several units in the Florida National Guard. Lowry served in the military for 38 years and attained the rank of major general. Apart from his military service, he is remembered for his opposition to racial integration, on which he based his unsuccessful 1956 campaign for governor of Florida.
A native of St. Augustine, Florida, Lowry was raised in Tampa, where his father served as a member of the city commission. He was educated in Tampa, and was a 1914 graduate of Virginia Military Institute. After graduation, Lowry began his long association with the United States Army by joining the Florida National Guard and organizing a new unit, Company H, 2nd Infantry Regiment, which he commanded as a captain. Lowry served with his unit on the Texas–Mexico border during the Pancho Villa Expedition in 1916–1917. The 2nd Florida Infantry was federalized for wartime service as the 124th Infantry, and sent to France as replacement soldiers. Lowry served with the unit in the U.S. then went to France as commander of Company I, 331st Infantry. The Armistice occurred before his company saw combat, and he performed post–war occupation duty until returning home in early 1919. After the war, he participated in the Florida National Guard's reorganization by helping organize the 116th Field Artillery Regiment, which he eventually commanded as a colonel. Lowry also began a career in the insurance industry in the early 1920s, and was the longtime chairman of the board of the Gulf Life Insurance Company. In 1934, he was promoted to brigadier general as commander of the 56th Artillery Brigade, a unit of the 31st Infantry Division.
Lowry was among the Florida National Guard members activated for World War II; he commanded the 31st Infantry Division Artillery, and participated in the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea campaigns, for which he received the Bronze Star Medal and other awards. After returning to Florida after the war, Lowry aided in the state's post–war National Guard reorganization, and was assigned to command the 51st Infantry Division as a major general. He retired from the military in 1952; in addition to receiving the Army Distinguished Service Medal, he received a state promotion to lieutenant general on Florida's retired list in recognition of his many years of service.
An ardent anti–communist and a believer in racial segregation, Lowry regarded the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s as an extension of a plot to spread communism throughout the world. In 1956, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida. Running on the single issue of maintaining school segregation, Lowry failed to gain much traction, and was defeated by incumbent LeRoy Collins, who went on to win the general election. In 1962, he made a run for the United States House of Representatives in a newly created Tampa–based district. Running on a segregationist platform, he lost the Democratic nomination to Sam Gibbons, who went on to win the general election.
In retirement, Lowry continued to reside in Tampa. He died there on February 3, 1985, and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Tampa.