Dr. R. Neil Lowry, a well-known consultant to the aquatics industry in the United States and Canada has passed away. He was 67.
Lowry, a resident of Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, died suddenly March 28 after returning home from teaching a daylong water chemistry class.
Lauded industrywide as one of the profession?s top chemists, Lowry was the principal-in-charge of Lowry & Associates, a specialty chemical distributorship. He was the chief educator and owner of the Lowry School of Pool & Spa Chemistry, as well as a contributing writer and commentator for numerous trade publications.
In addition, he was the original author of Pool & Spa Chemistry: A Testing & Treatment Guide, widely recognized as the authority on water quality management.
Lowry worked as an adviser to the Professional Pool Operators of America?s board of directors and was the only Canadian voting member on the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals? Recreational Water Quality Committee.
That was where he began a longtime working relationship with Thomas Lachocki, Ph.D., CEO of the National Swimming Pool Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colo.
?He was a very good chemist and he put a lot of value into the science behind everything that was happening in the industry,? Lachocki said. ?He had a great knack for finding things that were technically sound, and others that were [not].?
Thousands became certified pool water technicians through Lowry?s school.
As a member of the Hot Tub Council of Canada, he contributed to the present regulations for public spas under the auspices of the Ontario Minister of Health.
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Lowry earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Western Ontario, a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from Cornell University and a master?s degree from the University of Michigan in business administration.
He established Lowry & Associates in 1985 with his wife, Gabriele.
