WILLIAMSBURG — Lowel Dean Foster, 88, reported for his last “duty station” Saturday, March 13, 2021, due to complications from advanced dementia.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Inez Louise (Miller) Foster; and two brothers, James Foster of Okatie, South Carolina, and Mark Foster of Roanoke, Alabama.
He is survived by his daughter, Pamela Ann Young, and her husband, Lanny, of Grafton; and a son, Lowel Brent Foster of Kilmarnock. He was blessed with two grandchildren, Leah Michelle Foster and Ian Bryce Foster; and two great-grandchildren, Iya Lynn Papperelli and Salem Foster. Coming from a large family, he has living, one sister, Mary Ethel Parker of Simpsonville, South Carolina; and brothers, Douglas Foster of Wooster, Ohio, Richard Foster of Milledgeville, Georgia, Howard Foster of Estes Park, Colorado, Harvey Ray Foster of Simpsonville, South Carolina; and many loving nieces and nephews.
Lowel Foster was born in Elmore County, Alabama, in 1932, the son of the late Harvey Dean Foster and Ethel Pratt Foster. Lowel graduated from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion and met his wife, Inez Louise (Miller) Foster. After three years of graduate studies in the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, he received his Masters of Divinity in 1956.
From June 1956 until June 1966, he served as a Nazarene minister to three churches in Georgia, two years in Bainbridge, three years in Fort Valley and five years in Rossville.
Beginning in 1966 Lowel’s ministry was led into another field of service. On April 12, 1966, he was sworn into the U.S. Air Force as a chaplain. His first assignment was Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter, South Carolina. Because of his sincere love of humanity, he was quickly identified as the “Counseling Chaplain.” He then served for one remote year in Korea. March Air Force base was his next assignment, where he organized and built an extremely large Sunday school. From 1972 to 1976, he served at Wheeler Air Force base on Oahu, Hawaii. One indelible memory for Lowel and his family was to witness our first prisoners of the Vietnam War touch down on American soil and kiss the ground.
The U.S. Air Force, preparing him for later responsibilities, assigned him to 10 months of “Air Command and Staff College” in Montgomery, Alabama. He then served as hospital chaplain at Andrews Air Force Base. For two years, he served on the “Inspector General’s Team” out of Norton Air Force Base. It was his responsibility to conduct Chaplain Service Management Inspections and Functional Management and collect data to evaluate management effectiveness of the Chaplain Service Air Force-wide.
During the early 1980’s, Lowel served as “Deputy Command Chaplain” for the Korean Peninsula. There, he provided staff supervision for over 50 chaplains and 50 chapel activity specialists. He and his wife were afforded the opportunity to travel to the DMZ and walk around the conference table we see on T.V., dividing the North from the South.
At Langley Air Force Base, where he traveled for Tactical Command Headquarters, he served as chief of personnel and inspections of chaplain’s services at TAC bases and National Guard units. During this tour of duty, he was promoted to “full colonel.” His next-to-last assignment was Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was installation staff chaplain and served on the wing commander’s staff. His final military assignment was Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. As command chaplain, his mission at the Air Force Military Personnel Center was to provide technical and administrative support to the chief of chaplains, Headquarters, for the U.S. Air Force.
In preparation for his responsibilities through the years, he was privileged and grateful for the opportunities to study at Houston Medical Center, John’s Hopkins Medical Center and Walter Reed. Lowel spent almost 30 years as a U.S. Air Force chaplain, plus 10 years in civilian ministry. He served his God and country and now his last promotion.
Lowel Foster was the best father and husband anyone could have. His loyalty, wisdom, kindness and love for his family was unmatched. When we (his son and daughter) were small, we actually thought he was an angel because of his spirit and gentle loving nature. He was a loving husband, the epitome of “Christian fatherhood” and a true “gentle” gentleman. Thank you, Dad, for being the best. You are the best man we ever knew, now better than you’ve ever been.
His viewing will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, April 18, at Nelsen Funeral Home. A military funeral will be held at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery on “Chaplain’s Hill.”
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the charity of your choice.
Share online condolences with the family at Nelsen Funeral Home.
