Dr. Ronald Tyler Lowe

 Ron was born in Los Angeles, California, at a time when life was hard, especially for the family of a milkman. For a few years, Ronnie (as he was known as a boy) lived in a boarding house with his parents, Lela and Neal Lowe, and his older sister Lora Lee, along with extended family members and boarders. As a teen, Ron enjoyed nature and scouting, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Ron also developed a love for sports, particularly baseball, basketball, and tennis. When he was in college, Ron got a job driving a delivery truck at the dairy where his dad worked. He often told a story of delivering ice cream to Dodgers Stadium during the World Series in the late 1950s. He was proud that he saw part of a World Series game.

Ron attended Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, where he met his future wife, Patricia. They met at the annual Tri Phi Snow Party in Big Bear. Pat was also a student at Pepperdine, and their relationship grew before Pat eventually returned to her home state of Texas to graduate from the University of Texas. 

Despite modest beginnings, Ron was able to attend dental school at the University of Southern California. Early in dental school, Ron lost his dad. As we know, that is never easy, but it is especially tough at that age. The loss did not derail Ron’s dreams, and with the support of family and friends, he continued with school. In dental school, Ron met lifelong friend Ned Momary, who was also a huge sports fan. Ron and Ned would later spend many a phone call celebrating or lamenting the fortunes of the Trojan football team.

During dental school, Ron married Pat, and the young couple soon moved to Texas. Ron started his dental practice in the small (at the time) town of Arlington, leading to thousands of friendships over 45 years with patients, staff, and fellow dentists. Ron’s path to a successful career was greatly aided by the mentorship of Ft. Worth dentist Dr. Richard Marks. Dr. Marks became a friend for life, with weekly lunches alternating between Arlington and Ft. Worth. Ron and Pat regularly attended Passover with the family of Dr. Marks. In fact, they were such regulars that many believed Ron himself was Jewish.

 Ron loved being a dentist, as he loved getting to know people and helping them. One of the many examples of this was Ron’s work with Christ Haven in Keller. For years, Ron donated his time and skills to treat the children from this home for free. Ron also became a mentor for other young dentists. Everyone knows that Ron loved to talk, and dentistry gave him a chance to talk to patients without any reply. It was the perfect career!

When not practicing dentistry, Ron lived life to the fullest. He played tennis regularly for many years, becoming great friends with others in Wimbledon (our neighborhood) who shared his passion. He took fishing trips to the Gulf with Dr. Marks, often returning with stories of questionable validity! Ron even went hang-gliding in Wyoming during a vacation to celebrate his 70th birthday, losing his cell phone in the process. Two years later, it was miraculously returned because he had taped his address to it!

There is no doubt that Ron’s favorite thing of all was being a family man. He was a devoted and caring husband for over 60 years. Ron and Pat were delighted to bring 3 children into the world – Cari, Chris, and Cami. Ron enjoyed being involved with his children – teaching them to play sports, fishing with them in the pond behind their house, and sharing his love of hiking and camping. Taking family vacations to national parks was one of Ron’s favorite summertime escapes. As the kids got older, ski trips with wonderful friends and neighbors became a tradition, too.

Ron coached so many sports teams for Cari, Chris, and Cami that we cannot count them all. Perhaps it was losing his dad at a young age, or that he came from a rather small immediate family, but something inspired Ron to be a dad to everyone on the team and in the neighborhood. He loved packing the whole team into his van to drive to practices at the YMCA or Key Elementary or Gunn Junior High. And Ron was not an overzealous coach driven to win at all costs; he just wanted everyone to enjoy sports the way he did. 

Ron especially loved the hometown Texas Rangers, despite their years of ineptitude in the early days. He took his family to several games each season at the original stadium, even celebrating birthdays for Cari and Cami and a host of their friends at the always exciting but dangerous bat night (back when real wooden bats were given to all young fans as they entered the gates). In later years, Ron attended spring training many times with family and friends, sharing lots of laughs and creating funny memories. He was overjoyed when the Rangers finally won the World Series in 2023.

Ron’s desire was always for everyone else to be happy, especially his own kids. This is perfectly illustrated by his decision to root for the University of Texas when the Longhorns played USC for the national championship at the end of the 2005 football season. Ron knew that his kids and his wife were devoted to UT, so he threw his support behind the ‘Horns too. (Sorry to break this news to you, Ned.) 

As his kids grew and started their own families, Ron found the passion that would take the cake – being a grandparent. He was blessed to have 5 wonderful grandchildren – Lamar, Hallie, Samantha, Ben, and Garret. He loved them all equally, and he never missed a sporting event or other activity if it was in any way possible to attend. Since he was such a talker, Ron would quickly get acquainted on a first-name basis with the parents of other kids on the team and even the coaches. Despite this bond, Ron very rarely invoked his years of experience to let those coaches know what they were doing wrong! Ron and Pat were frequently known as the team grandparents because they were regulars at their grandkids’ sporting events, especially Dragon Tennis.

With great delight, Ron celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary with Pat at Cami and Madison’s house in Houston in June of 2023. The devoted couple was surrounded by their family. Ron really loved any celebration that involved his kids and grandkids. The entire family gathered together again in June of 2024, as Ron celebrated his 85th birthday. He joked that if he had known he was going to live that long, he would have taken better care of himself.

In the last couple of years, Ron’s mind and body began to wane, but his passions never did. His love for Pat and his 3 children and 5 grandchildren was strong and unwavering. Ron is survived by his immediate family – Pat, Cari, Chris, Cami, Cami’s husband Madison, and his 5 precious grandkids, Lamar (and Lamar’s wife Zoe, whom Ron adored), Hallie, Samantha, Ben, and Garret. He is also survived by his sweet and loving sister Lora Lee and her children Mark and Lisa, and their families, and his nephew Brian (who was like a 2nd son) and his family. Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Lela and Neal, his Texas in-laws, Minnie and Verney Reagan, his brother-in-law Gordon Kruger (Lora Lee’s husband), and his brother-in-law Paul Reagan (Pat’s brother).

Memorial donations may be made to Mission Arlington or River Legacy Park. You can also honor Ron by sharing your kindness with others. He truly loved making someone’s day with a smile.