Businessman, civil servant.
Born at Acme, Alberta on 15 April 1919 to Aganetha Friesen (1887-1976) and John I. Loewen (1884-1955), he moved to Winnipeg shortly thereafter, where the family settled in the Norwood area, at Lyndale Drive. After finishing high school, he attended business college for two years before volunteering for service in the Second World War. He spent some time training other soldiers in Canada, before being sent overseas with the Royal Canadian Air Force. There, he was stationed in England, spending his tour flying in Lancaster bombers as navigator and bomb-aimer. He was proud of his time spent in service, and was later President of the International Wartime Pilots and Observers Association.
Upon his return to civilian life, he became involved in his father's business, Lon’s Stone Works. Eventually taking the reins after his father passed away, he grew the operation to include locations in Belleville, Ontario; Red Deer, Alberta; and a second site in Winnipeg. He also embarked on a second career with the federal civil service, working through a series of positions in various departments. He moved steadily upward, until his final posting as Senior Civilian Staff Relations Officer with the Department of Defence (Western Region plus Air Command nationally). His gentlemanly nature and his ability to see both sides of a disagreement led to his great success in the labour negotiations field.
On 21 September 1941, he married Beatrice Eldora “Bea” Munro (1918-2011) and they went on to have three children. They raised their family in a home they built on Lyndale Drive, along with enjoying a whole other world at their cottage at Falcon Lake. There he took on building projects, sailed the Jolly Roger, and took long walks and bike rides to visit with his coffee buddies. This, along with his regular visits to the YMCA, helped him maintain a remarkable fitness level well into his later years.
He died at Winnipeg on 5 September 2006.
Obituary [Beatrice E. Lowen], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 June 2011.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 September 2006.
“Benjamin Harold Lowen,” Paterson-Irwin Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 9 February 2024
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