The Lutheran Church of the Living Christ110 N. Gammon Road, Madison, WI&nbsp;Saturday, March 22, 2025&nbsp;Visitation at 10am with service following at 11:30

Visitation and Celebration of Life service

David Mays

Lowell Mays

Kristen Mays Barge

Lowell H. Mays, of Madison, Wis., passed away peacefully on Sunday, February23, 2025, at Oakwood Village Lutheran Home, after a brief illness. He was 87. Lowell Mays was born August 15, 1937, in Toledo, Ohio to David P. and Veleta M. (Hoel) Mays, their only child. His early childhood was spent in Lucas and surrounding counties of Northwestern Ohio. He finished high school in Sylvania, Ohio. In his youth, he was a caddie at the Inverness Club and was shaped in many ways from his experiences with the members and visiting professionals; among them were Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Lloyd Mangrum and Cary Middlecoff. Golf remained an enjoyment for life, both as a player and as a Marshal for PGA tournaments throughout the Midwest. For over 15 years he had been the lead Marshal on the 18 th green of the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Lowell was a straight “A” student, earned the rank of Eagle Scout, and received appointments to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, but declined them both as he felt a “higher” calling. He received undergraduate degrees in psychology and theology from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, attending the University of Toledo in the summers to complete hisundergraduate work in three years. Following Capital, he attended Trinity Lutheran Seminary, receiving the Master of Divinity degree. He studied Ecumenical Thought under Gustav Weigel, S. J. at Johns Hopkins University. He was an observer at the Vatican II Council for the Lutheran Church. In 1988, he received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Carthage College. Lowell was the first in his family to attend college. He got scholarships and paid his own way. Lowell was ordained in Christian Ministry on July 29, 1962, as a Clergyman in the American Lutheran Church and received his first call to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, in Brodhead, Wis., from 1962 - 1967. During his time at Brodhead, he was offered a position as a visiting Professor of Theology at Edgewood College, in Madison, Wis., and made the weekly commute to Madison. Soon after, he received a Danforth Foundation grant to establish and chair the Department of Ecumenical Studies, within the Department of Theology at Edgewood and then moved his family to Madison. Once settled in Madison, he also became an Associate Campus Pastor and then Senior Pastor and Director of Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Wisconsin. Not long after the move, he was asked to join the Dane County Sheriff’s Department and the Madison Police Department as a part-time Chaplain and Jail Minister. In 1970, he became a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, serving joint appointments in Medicine and Human Oncology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. He was a clinical staff member of the University Health Service until 1987. In 1974, he was named Director of Human Ecology at Madison General Hospital, also until 1987. 1n 1987, he was elected Bishop of the South Central Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serving until 1991, when he retired from the ministry. Lowell retired with the rank of Captain from the U.S. Naval Reserve, having served on the staff of the Surgeon General of the Navy and on the staff of the Commander, United States Naval Forces-Europe in London. Retirement didn’t last long. During his life of ministry and counseling, he was constantly being asked by company executives to consult on what he called “Humanist” issues, not bottom-line decisions. He found a niche by providing outside counsel to top executives and leaders on matters they needed to discuss, but couldn’t within the walls of their organizations. He was asked to provide business personality profile assessments, family business succession planning, executive search and confidential executive counsel to CEOs and board members. In response, he formed a consulting business but soon found he needed to bring in partners to service the demand. Lowell was a principal of Herndon, Mays and Skornicka, a counseling organization to executives and corporations. He also served as Senior Advisor at Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, S.C., a multi-service law firm. Throughout many years he was a consultant to Meriter Hospital, General Health Services, Wisconsin Physician Service Insurance, the Wisconsin Medical Society, Marshfield Clinic, and multiple banks, credit unions and financial services companies. He had been a board member of the Wisconsin Division of the American Cancer Society, the Badger Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Wisconsin Eye Bank, Carthage College, Lutheran School of Theology, and Wisconsin Law Enforcement Assistance Network. He was an active member of Blackhawk Country Club, the Madison Club, and The American Legion. The best word to describe Lowell was that of Counselor: Confidential advisor, deeply intellectual, steadfastly loyal, and had undisputed integrity. He was a leader who lived by lifting up others. The most important thing to Lowell was love and family, and if you were his friend, you were his family. He loved you and you knew it. Lowell is survived by his wife, Barbara, of 64 years; daughter, Kristen (Bruce) Barge; and sons, David (Cathy) Mays and Stephen (Lisa Pierobon Mays) Mays. Grandchildren include Nathan and Lindsey Barge (fiancé, John Jacobs), Michael and Lauren Mays, and Chiara and Gabriela Pierobon Mays. A celebration of life will be held at LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE LIVING CHRIST, 110 N. Gammon Road, Madison, on Saturday, March 22, 2025. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until 11:15 a.m., with a service to follow at 11:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Oakwood Foundation, 6209 Mineral Point Road, Madison, WI 53705 or The Cutting Edge Program - Edgewood College, 1000 Edgewood College Drive, Madison, WI 53711. The family would like to extend their gratitude to staff at Hebron Oaks Skilled Nursing at Oakwood Village who so lovingly cared for Lowell.

Page Settings

Enter location name

Full Name

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Black Friday Offering

Honor Their Memory

- Including QR Memorial Plaques, Memorial Trees and our Keeper Plus and Concierge Memorial Plans

Now offering KeeperQR Plaques

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Title

A message title is required. Please update.

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

MEMORIAL TREE PLANTED

BEES PROTECTED

PLASTIC RECYCLED

CLEAN WATER

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

Organization name

Your name

To permanently remove this item, select Remove. To keep this item, select Cancel.

You have selected to delete {count} items from the Mementos Library. In doing so, these items will be permanently deleted from your library.  Do you wish to continue?

Thank you for your submission. All submissions are reviewed and must be approved before they appear on the page.

Thank you for you submission.

Web URL

Create a full picture of your community by creating individual Memorial pages for your family members, friends, and more.

Highlight the important people in {name}'s life by adding them as a Loved One. You can add someone via their {brandName} Memorial or Living Memorial page, or add their information manually.

Enter this Loved One’s email to let them know you have added them.

Add Loved One

You can only add an image for your Loved one by upgrading to Keeper Plus or creating a Memorial page for a Loved One that has passed away.

This is where the descripton will appear.

Add up to 50 photos and/or videos to create an album of a specific moment in {firstName}’s life. You’ll be able to reorder files and add captions to each file after you save.

Enter an album title

This is the album title

How would you name this album?

Album title

Enter album title

Group title (optional)

Used to mention your loved one throughout the memorial.

To avoid losing the previously generated text, we recommend copying and pasting the text to a secure location. If you wish to save the text, close this window, and copy the text to a secure location. If you are ready to generate a new version of your text, select the ‘Generate Story’ button.

Your current text will be removed

With just a few details from you, our AI-powered writing tool can draft a personalized and meaningful life story in a click.

The Obituary Assistant will take all the content you add to craft the perfect obituary. For the best possible results, please make sure all sections are completely filled out before generating.

Not displayed - used for your notifications only.

Used to display your relationship to {firstName}

Name

Who is this memorial for?

Use our Story templates to highlight a memory or event by adding unique details and a special layout.

New Offering

Create a video slideshow in minutes

Introducing Tribute Videos

Transform your profile page into a Living Memorial to start preserving your own legacy with photos, videos, and more. You can choose to keep your Living Memorial hidden until you’re ready to publish. Have more questions?

Create a Document Story

Enter a document title

Edit a Document Story

Upload an important document that signifies a moment in {firstName}’s life. This will display on your Memorial, so please don’t upload a death certificate, Social Security card, or anything containing sensitive information.

Document Story

What does this document represent?

We're getting your Mementos ready for download in a secure .zip folder, but it may take some time depending on your internet speed and file sizes. You'll need to stay on the site while this happens, so please don't leave mykeeper.com! (You're welcome to navigate away from this page and do other things on the site, as long as it's on mykeeper.com.)

We're getting your Mementos ready for download in a secure .zip folder, but it may take some time depending on your internet speed and file sizes. You'll need to stay on the site while this happens, so please don't leave our website.

Preparing your download

Change the name of this album in the field below

Edit the album title

You are creating and/or updating an event in the past.  If this was done in error, cancel and review your changes. 

Event is in the Past

Create an event page to coordinate a gathering in honor of {username}

To permanently remove this event and all corresponding data, select Delete. This cannot be undone.

Do you want to remove this event?

Share a link for guests to access a Virtual or Live Streamed Event

Share the event location to provide guests with directions

Choose if anyone on the internet can see event settings and RSVP options.

Only those with this password can access the event

Event privacy

Event RSVP

Choose if anyone on the internet can see who has RSVP'd to the event.

Guestlist privacy

Describe the event, including dress code, requests, or other important details

Enter important personal and family events like the birth of a child, a marriage, and more.

Select the <star>star icon</star> on a photo or video to display it in the Featured Mementos Section on the Memorial page. You can feature between 3 and 10 items.

Why are you flagging this?

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive emails containing information on any updates or additions that are made to this memorial page.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive emails containing information on any updates or additions that are made to this memorial page.

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive email reminders for upcoming events containing the event details - 72hrs prior to the event occurring for {username}’s Memorial.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive email reminders for upcoming events containing the event details - 72hrs prior to the event occurring for {username}’s Memorial.

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive emails containing information on the most recent memorials added to {brandName}.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive emails containing information on the most recent memorials added to {brandName}.

Welcome back, {name}

Welcome to {name}

Add a special touch to a memorial by including a beautiful emblem.

Story Title

What would you like to call this storyline?

Need examples? Try "{firstName}'s Life at University" or "A Lifelong Learner."

Add Interests or Milestones

Tell us about {name}'s life

Highlight the important people in {firstName}’s life by adding family members, friends, and more as Loved Ones. To get started, simply add existing {brandName} users and Memorial pages as Loved Ones, or add them manually by entering some basic information.

Section title

Add a map

Add markers to significant places, landmarks, cities, and other locations to create a personalized map that tells part of {firstName}’s life story.

Add a Map Story

What would you like to call this map?

Map Story

Enter a map title

Need ideas? Try something like “Places {firstName} Called Home” or “Favorite Vacation Spots”

Add a memento story

Add up to 100 photos and videos at once to your Memorial. You'll be able to add details, or feature as Stories later, if you like.

Add Mementos

Add Title or Text Story

Mementos are uploaded photos and videos that other users can like and comment on. If you'd like to highlight one of these and tell its story, you can transform them into Stories.

Updating your biography

A consolidated view of all the ways someone can honor the memory of your loved one (send flowers, donations, etc.).

Banner

This option allows users to customize the visual appearance of the memorial page by removing the existing Keeper logo from the memorial page. This is particularly useful for those who prefer a more personalized look for the page.

Remove Keeper Logo

Memorial Page Configurations

Allows visitors to the memorial page to purchase a tree in honor of your loved one’s memory.

Purchase a Tree

Allows you to show or hide the “Send Gift Basket” button in the memorial page banner, letting you choose how others can honor your loved one’s memory

Send Gift Basket

Allows visitors to the memorial page to send flowers or make donations in honor of your loved one’s memory.

Send Flowers

Sympathy Gifts

This option allows admin/editors the ability to customize the visual appearance of the memorial page by showing or hiding the display of  “Sympathy Gift Ideas” on the memorial page. This is particularly useful in assisting families who prefer a more personalized look for the page.

Memorial Configurations

Only you can see this page and all its content.

Replace the current background with one that feels right for the memorial.

We couldn’t use this photo. Try a different one.

Memorial Settings

Enhance portrait

Memorial Keepers

This page and all its content is now visible according to your privacy settings.

If added as a Keeper, you'll be able to manage and edit {keeped}’s profile

Request Keeper Access

Send a message to {name}

Check your inbox

The information you have entered will be lost if you close this window.

Are you sure you want to close this window?

Select ‘Submit Obituary’ to complete and publish this obituary, or select ‘Keep Editing’ to include additional information in the obituary.

Lowell H. Mays

Tell us about Lowell Mays's life

Add Mementos

Tell us about Lowell Mays's life

Add Mementos