James RISPAH Lowe was born on January 5, 1926, in Green Turtle Cay, Abaco to William Ludington Lowe (1887-1962) and Sarah Ann Isabelle Gates (1898-19??).

His sister is Mavis Merita (1939).

In September 1946, Rispah married Margaret Isabelle Roberts (1925-2016) from Green Turtle Cay, Abaco.  She is the daughter of George Roland Roberts (1894-1945) and Mary Isabelle Weatherford (1899-1978).

Their children included Gail Marsha, Roland James (1949-2021), Gregory, and Pamela.

EXCERPTS FROM THE OBITUARY OF JAMES RISPAH LOWE (written by Patrick Bethel)

James Rispah Lowe, the son of the late Ludington and Sarah Lowe, was born at Green Turtle Cay, Abaco on January 5, 1926.

Rispah grew up in the settlement of New Plymouth where he attended the Public School under Head Teacher Herbert Roberts.

At the age of fifteen, he left home and went to work in Nassau at Botts Shoe Store. In the early 1940s, he left Nassau and took a job with General Sea Foods at West End, Grand Bahama.

In January 1953, he accepted a post with the then Out Island Department and became a commissioner at Hope Town, Abaco.

In 1956, he was transferred to the island of Bimini and in 1958 moved to Nassau as Assistant Comptroller of Customs.

In 1967, he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance as Deputy Permanent Secretary. Upon his retirement in 1978, he was the Secretary of Revenue of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Rispah rose from the lowest rung on the public service ladder to the highest, showing that he had ability and determination. He was a person who earned respect from those who worked with him.

During his teaching career and that of Commissioner, he was loved and respected by the citizens of communities in which he worked. Many Abaconians were often heard to remark with pride that Rispah Lowe had taught them, or they had known him while he was Commissioner in Hope Town or Bimini.

He was a dedicated civil servant with high moral and Christian principles, a disciplinarian, but always fair, and loved and respected by his pupils and staff.

His contribution to the family islands where he worked as a teacher and administrator will long be remembered, as well as his outstanding contribution in the field of finance.

In 1978, the year of his retirement, he was recognized by Her Majesty the Queen as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) for his long and distinguished public service to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. In the same year, he was also recognized by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and received the Distinguished Citizens Award for Government.

I still remember the first time I met my departed friend. It was July 1950 in the town of New Plymouth. For the next 27 years we worked together – first as teachers in Cherokee Sound, then in Hope Town where I was teacher, and he was Commissioner. Later in Nassau, I was in the field of education, and he was in the field of finance.

For 35 years, the Lowe and Bethel families have been close and today, my wife and I, along with our two sons, mourn the loss of a dear friend, advisor and critic. Rispah was a good family man, a dedicated and loving husband and caring father, qualities which helped mold the loves of four children of which he was justly proud.

James Rispah Lowe passed away on April 3, 1989 (age 63) in Nassau, New Providence.