Leonard Lowrey was born in Bessemer, AL, and moved to Hattiesburg as a teenager. He graduated from high school in Hattiesburg and won a bachelor's degree in English and history from the University of Southern Mississippi. He joined the Hattiesburg American in 1938 and spent 44 years with the newspaper, 22 as executive editor.
Lowrey was a veteran of Navy service during World War II. He was a member of the Mississippi Sports Association Hall of Fame, won the Heart Association Fourth Estate Award in 1976, 1979 and 1982. He was awarded the University of Southern Mississippi Student Printz Medical trophy in 1982 and led his newspaper to the MPA's general excellence award in 1982.
He was active in the United Way, YMCA, Industrial Board, Pat Harrison Waterway, Red Cross, Rotary Club, Scouting, Chamber of Commerce, USM Alumni Assn., Big Gold and Hardwood Clubs. Lowrey served as an elder and Sunday school teacher at First Presbyterian Church of Hattiesburg, was chairman of its planning and executive committee and clerk of its Session.
