Founder Profile

Kenneth E. Lowe Sr.

Founder of Lowe Chemical Company, U.S. Army veteran, and member of the United States Services Baseball Team connected to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Kenneth E. Lowe Sr. in USA baseball uniform during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic baseball trip
Kenneth E. Lowe Sr. in his USA baseball uniform during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic baseball chapter.
Founder | Veteran | Teammate | Builder

The man whose values became the foundation of Lowe Chemical.

Founder of Lowe Chemical Company | United States Services Baseball Team | Melbourne, 1956

Kenneth E. Lowe Sr. is remembered first within Lowe Chemical as the founder who helped shape the company's reputation for trust, reliability, and personal follow-through. His story also reaches beyond business. Before building a chemical distribution company, Ken served in the U.S. Army and earned a place on the United States Services Baseball Team connected to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

His life brought together several chapters: military service, international baseball, chemical industry experience, entrepreneurship, and family leadership. Those same qualities of discipline, competitiveness, preparation, and accountability became part of the way Lowe Chemical did business from the beginning.

Full NameKenneth E. Lowe Sr.
Company LegacyFounder, Lowe Chemical Company
Founded1968
Co-FounderMarlene Lowe
Military ServiceU.S. Army Veteran
1956 TeamUnited States Services Baseball Team
PositionCatcher
CollegeVillanova | Columbia University
1956 Unit31st Infantry Regiment, Korea
Olympic ChapterMelbourne, Australia
Founder note: This page is presented as both a company tribute and a historical profile, preserving Ken Lowe Sr.'s role in the 1956 team while recognizing the business legacy he and Marlene Lowe built together.

Founder of Lowe Chemical Company

Lowe Chemical Company was founded in 1968 by Kenneth E. Lowe Sr. and Marlene Lowe. What began from their family home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, grew into a second-generation, family-owned chemical distribution company built on relationships, supplier trust, and dependable customer service.

Ken brought to the business a practical understanding of the chemical industry and a belief that a distributor's reputation was earned one order, one shipment, and one conversation at a time. Marlene helped anchor the office and administrative side of the company, making Lowe Chemical a family business from the start.

The company culture that followed reflected Ken's values: answer the phone, follow through, protect the customer, respect the supplier, and do what you say you will do. Those values remain central to Lowe Chemical's identity today.

Company legacy: Lowe Chemical remains family owned and relationship driven, continuing the values Ken and Marlene established from the beginning.

The 1956 United States Services Baseball Team

Ken Lowe Sr. was part of the United States Services Baseball Team associated with the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. Baseball was featured as a demonstration sport, and the American team was assembled from military players who represented the United States through the game of baseball.

A November 20, 1956 article in the Stamford Advocate reported that Ken, then with the 31st Infantry Regiment in Korea, had been selected as one of eighteen baseball players chosen from all four branches of the service for an exhibition tour in Australia during the Olympic Games. The article identified him as one of six Army players on the squad and listed him among the team's catchers.

For Lowe Chemical, this chapter adds a remarkable personal dimension to the founder's story. The same man who later built a company rooted in service and dependability had earlier represented his country as both a serviceman and an athlete on an international stage.

1949 Graduated from Greenwich High School after competing in football, hockey, and baseball.
1953 Received a Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova College.
1955 Received a Master of Science degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and entered the U.S. Army.
November 20, 1956 The Stamford Advocate reported that Ken had been selected for the United States service baseball squad traveling to Australia.
1956 Ken Lowe Sr. was listed with the United States Services Baseball Team during the Melbourne Olympic baseball demonstration period.
Melbourne, Australia Baseball's Olympic appearance helped bring American military baseball to an international audience during the postwar era.
1968 Ken and Marlene Lowe founded Lowe Chemical Company from their family home in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Today Lowe Chemical continues as a family-owned company shaped by the founder's commitment to service, trust, and long-term relationships.

1956 Stamford Advocate Article

This newly added newspaper clipping gives Ken Lowe Sr.'s Olympic baseball selection a contemporary hometown record. Published on Tuesday, November 20, 1956, the article announced that Kenneth E. “Kenny” Lowe of Greenwich had been chosen for the United States Army team that would join the Olympic baseball exhibition tour in Australia.

Stamford Advocate article about Kenneth E. Lowe Sr. being selected for the 1956 Olympic baseball tour
Stamford Advocate, November 20, 1956. “Greenwich Man To Play Baseball At Olympics” with a photograph of Ken Lowe Sr. in his USA baseball uniform.

“Greenwich Man To Play Baseball At Olympics”

The article describes Ken as a former Greenwich High School athlete who played two years of football and three years each of hockey and baseball. It notes that he captained the baseball team as a senior and graduated in 1949.

It also records his college and service path: Villanova University, Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, and U.S. Army service beginning May 17, 1955. At the time of the Olympic tour selection, he was stationed with the headquarters company at the 31st Infantry Regiment post exchange in Korea as a specialist third class.

  • Olympic tour role: selected as one of the U.S. service-team catchers.
  • Military baseball note: catcher for the regimental team, Bearcats, which won the 7th Division championship.
  • Far East recognition: selected for the division all-star team that finished third in the Army Far East championships at Camp Zama, Japan.
  • Team makeup: six Army players, plus players from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.

Why This Page Matters

The 1956 team story had nearly disappeared from public view. Preserving Ken Lowe Sr.'s Olympic baseball chapter helps tell a fuller story of the company's founder while also helping restore the memory of the men who represented American military baseball in Melbourne.

This profile is intended as a living tribute. As new photographs, articles, letters, programs, and family memories are discovered, they can be added to preserve both Ken's personal history and the broader story of the United States Services Baseball Team.

Research Sources

This page was compiled from Lowe Chemical company history, team photographs, the 1956 United States Services Baseball Team roster materials, and the ongoing historical preservation project connected to the Melbourne Olympic baseball demonstration.

Founder. Veteran. Teammate. Builder.

Kenneth E. Lowe Sr.'s legacy lives on through Lowe Chemical and through the preserved story of the 1956 United States Services Baseball Team. His life reminds us that companies are built by people, and that the best histories preserve both the business and the human story behind it.

View Team History