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William R. “Bill” Lowe, 94, of Wheeling, WV passed away peacefully on February 4, 2025 at Wheeling Hospital Continuous Care Center. He was a printer and a member of the International Typographical Union for more than 75 years. He began his 6-year apprenticeship in printing on October 8, 1946 at age 16 at the Wheeling Intelligencer Newspaper in Wheeling, WV. He worked there until December 1961 when he took a traveler’s card and became a “tramp printer” to go see the country. He worked on many major newspapers such as The Dallas Morning News, The El Paso Times, The L.A. Examiner, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Seattle Intelligencer, The Missoula Sentinel, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Denver Post, The St. Louis Dispatch, The Chicago Tribune, and then headed back to WV. Newpapers were automating the printing industry so he went to New York City and worked for The New York Herald-Tribune. In 1962 during the NYC four-month newspaper strike he went to Washington, DC and worked on the Washington Post newspaper, returning to NYC after the Strike. One memorable experience he had while in Washington, DC was visiting the Smithsonian Institute and viewing the “Mona Lisa” which was on loan at the time from France. On August 17, 1963 he and Martha Pettit Kernik were married at the Calvary Methodist Church in Moundsville, WV. They, along with his step-daughter, Paula, moved to River Edge, NJ just across the Hudson River from NYC. In 1965, during the big black-out in NYC, he went over to the New York Times to visit a friend and liked the newspaper so well he decided to go to work there. He retired from there in 1996, after 31 years and returned with his family to Moundsville. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, but his main hobby was golf. He was a member of the Ash Avenue Church of God, Moundsvillle, the Wheeling Union No. 1 R.A.M., and the Wheeling Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar. In later life, he and his step-daughter, Paula, enjoyed many travels all throughout the United States and places around the world that included China, Egypt, and India to name a few. In addition to his parents, Ethel Radcliff Lowe and Roy Lowe, he was preceded in death by his wife, Martha Lowe; four sisters, Erma Lowe, Naomi Robinson, Margaret Lowe, and Phyllis Ross Carter. Survivors include a step-daughter, Paula J. Kernik; and numerous nieces and nephews. The family sincerely thanks the staff of the Welty Home, Wheeling Hospital, and Wheeling Hospital Continuous Care Center for their compassion and kindness. Family will receive friends Tuesday 11am until the time of service at 1pm at Grisell Funeral Home and Crematory, 400 Jefferson Ave., Moundsville with Pastor CJ Plogger officiating. Private interment in Riverview Cemetery, Moundsville with Masonic services.

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William R. "Bill" Lowe

October 8, 1930 - February 4, 2025