Walter Edison Lowe Jr. died July 29, 2023. He was 95.

He was born Feb. 24, 1928 at Harlem Hospital in New York City to his parents Susie E. Lowe and Edison Lowe Sr. Walter was their only child and his father died when he was very young.

Walter was raised in Washington D.C. and Queens, N.Y. He earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Adelphi University.

Following college he served in the U.S. Navy. He was stationed in the South Pacific and served on the USS Kearsarge LHD-2, achieving the rank of second class petty officer. He was honorably discharged from the Anacostia Naval Air Station in Washington, D.C.

In the 1940s his mother purchased a house on Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs and it would become their homestead on the Vineyard. Walter came to love Oak Bluffs for its spring and summer seasons as it became populated with off-Islanders and the social atmosphere would increase and envelope the Island. His mother lived in Oak Bluffs year-round until her death in 1983.

Walter was well known. He became known as the “mayor of Oak Bluffs” for his community involvement and relationship building. He loved to entertain friends and have a good time, and his Vineyard “white parties” were infamous.

After college, he took advantage of his knowledge and experience in electrical engineering, joining the Republic Aviation Corporation as a project engineer. Later he joined NYNEX, now Verizon, as a project engineer. At Verizon he rose through the corporate ranks to become staff manager in affirmative action compliance, diversity, inclusion and urban affairs.

Walter was active in community affairs and contributed his time to the youth in Queens county, N.Y. through the Boy Scouts of America, where he was certified as an advance scoutmaster. He served as chairman of the Harlem YMCA, president of the Upper Manhattan Rotary Club, the UNCF Advisory Council, Concerned Black Executives of New York and was a member of the Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard.

He was a member of the Guardsmen, Brooklyn chapter, and attended many of their annual domestic and overseas events. He made annual trips to Barbados for extended stays during the winter months. He also enjoyed sports as a spectator and traveled to the Olympic games often.

His spirituality was fulfilled by his weekly attendance at Riverside Church in New York City, where his ashes will be interred in the church’s columbarium. He was also a frequent worshiper at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, pastored at the time by the late Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts 3rd. Whenever Rev. Butts was on Martha’s Vineyard to speak at Union Chapel, Walter took it upon himself to be his host and “transport chief.”

He did not have children and was a confirmed bachelor for a number of years until he met and established a long-term relationship with Cheryle Wills of Cleveland, Ohio. They were a beautiful couple as they traveled the world enjoying themselves along the way. Sadly, Cheryle’s health declined and she died in February 2023.

Walter lived a long, fun-filled life where the world was his oyster and he had friends and extended family over the decades. He is missed in New York City, Barbados and Martha’s Vineyard.