Reminiscing by Doris Kingry
My friend, Judge George Lowrey, was foremost a family man. He and his wife raised a highly intelligent and successful family of children. But as successful as George became, early in his career, he made some odd choices in my eyes.
George Lowrey had a heart of gold and helped so many people. After earning hisjuris prudence degree at Florida State University and practicing law in Tallahassee for a time, he came to Milton with his young family to set up shop.
Being from Escambia County and having friends in Santa Rosa, he liked this area and wanted to be closer to home.
He began his Milton practice on a shoestring, upstairs in the old Fisher-Hamilton Building with a sheet of lumber, probably a 4 x 8 piece of plywood, supported by I-don't-know-what, for a desk.
During his early years, George went door-to-door selling sewing machine cabinets to help support his young family. I bought a cabinet from him, having met him through a mutual friend. We became good friends from that time forward.
George’s office was diagonally across the street from where I worked, upstairs in the old First National Bank Building, now destroyed. During my mid-afternoon break, sometimes I would meet him for a cup of coffee (he always drank buttermilk) at the small cafe downstairs under George's office.
During a court season, one afternoon, George called and asked if I could meet him for coffee during a break from a case he was defending in court. As George's elder I represented, (I like to think), sage advice. At least I was someone he could bounce his ideas.
On this particular day, he had a quandary and asked me if he should use one technique or his other idea: to shed a few tears. Astounded, I said: George, would you literally produce tears to help win a case?
His reply was: Well, Mr. so and so, (a well-respected, long-time, successful Milton attorney), has been doing it for years. I do not know, and never asked, what technique or who the winner was in that case.
Another person George defended was a locally well-known check bouncer/kiter. Georges' defense won for his client. How did the client pay George? By personal check, of course. Yes, it was returned as non sufficient funds and it was a joke around town for a very long time.
Being the golden-hearted person he was, however, had he been asked, and believing every defendant deserved a defender, he may have represented the same client again. That is just the way he was.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: A lasting friendship with Judge Lowery