IRVING — As somber music played at Irving Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday, three brothers were honored before a wall that pays tribute to those who have lost their lives for our country.
Ray Lowery was a Navy Seabee who served in World War II. He was able to visit the memorial before he died last June.
"I asked him, 'How would you like it if we made you a place here where we could come visit?' And he said, 'I would... I would love it,'" remembered Lowery's daughter, Gail Lowery Briggs.
With that encouragement, his daughter started working on a memorial stone for her father.
That stone was set on Saturday along with stones for his brothers, each representing a different branch of service.
"I think he would be very proud today, and proud we're honoring his brothers," Briggs said. "He loved his brothers."
J.B. was in the Marines; Roy Lee served in the Air Force; but it was memories of Ray that had his girls grinning.
"Daddy wasn't often serious when talking about life, he was warm and huggy and playful," Jane Lowery said.
"He carried cherry bomb firecrackers and M-80s in his glovebox," added Ruth Lowery.
Ray was also known for keeping everyone together, a trait he passed down to the next generation.
"My daddy was the heart of the family, and with him gone, it's just carried on with Gail," Leslie Lowery said.
Jane Lowery echoed that tribute. "Gail does not do anything halfway, as you can tell," she said. "She does everything with her whole heart, especially when it comes to daddy."
"We love you daddy; this is all for you," Briggs said. "Every bit of this is for you."
Families can still buy memorial blocks at the Irving Veterans Memorial Park. They become part of the commemorative battlement walls describing the major conflicts that have happened since Irving was founded.
