| Photo of the Month April 2025 |
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A native of Lemont Furnace near Uniontown, PA, World War II veteran Frank Leon "Lee" Lowden spent his career as a naturalist, employed by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, an organization devoted to protecting and restoring the region’s exceptional natural places. Lee was of the family of Catherine (Minerd) Nesmith Dean and entered into marriage with Wanda Lorraine "Peggy" Leonard of the family of Christmas Leonard.
In 1963, Lee became employed by the Conservancy and remained until his untimely death seven years later. This included five years at the Ferncliff Reserve at Ohiopyle (where our family’s first annual reunion had been held in 1913) and two years at the Bear Run Nature Reserve. In January 1967, the Connellsville Daily Courier reported that he was bird-banding at the Nature Reserve's Brooks Bird Sanctuary, founded in 1965, and "expected to be one of the important attractions of the reserve when it is opened to the public." He also helped to organize guided tours for school students.
When making a presentation to the Sisterhood of Temple Israel in 1967, he showed 35mm slides "of birds, flowers and trees, all taken in this area," said the Uniontown Evening Standard. "He has lifelong experience in this field and presently is studying migration, nesting characteristics and banding birds for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service." Another of his presentations was on "Spring Wild Flowers of Our Region" in 1968, held at the Conservancy's Wildflower Reserve. Lee also was involved with the annual National Audubon Society bird count in Ohiopyle and in nearby Jefferson, Greene County.
Sadly, at the age of 44, he passed away on Oct. 2, 1970. His legacy continued, and his wildflower slides were shown to the public for years afterward. As well, their daughter Amy Lorraine (Lowden) Humbert has been employed with the Conservancy as education programs director at Fallingwater, the famed Frank Lloyd Wright house built over a waterfall. In 2023, a photograph of him with his young daughter was published in the Conservancy's Conserve magazine, illustrating an article headlined "The Gift of Bear Run Nature Reserve." The article said that:
One of the first people to care for and share the importance of this natural area around Fallingwater was Frank "Lee" Lowden, who the Conservancy hired as a naturalist in 1965 to care for Bear Run Nature Reserve. Lee had previously served as an environmental educator at Ferncliff, a property that was purchased with the help of the Edgar J. Kaufmann Charitable Trust. With enthusiasm and keen knowledge of the landscape, he led education efforts, including hikes for nature lovers and bird watchers, and stewarded the reserve.
Learn more about our family's involvement with Fallingwater since the very beginning -- "Fallingwater: Celebrating the Special Relationship Between Our Family and the World's Most Famous Modern House" -- "Images of Bear Run in the Years Before Fallingwater" -- and "Fallingwater Today."
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Copyright © 2025 Mark A. Miner |
