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The Lowcountry lost one of its hospitality icons in October.
Pierce Lowrey, founder of the Lowrey Group, died Oct. 20 from skin cancer. Lowrey, 81, and his wife Bonnie operated the catering and restaurant company that runs Antonio’s, Boathouse II, CQ’s, Ocean Grille and Old Fort Pub. Lowrey is considered one of the business leaders who helped Hilton Head emerge as a successful world-class destination over the past 20 years, said Ann-Marie Adams-Arrington, executive director of the Hilton Head Area Hospitality Association.
“He was a mega-marketing genius,” she said. “He was thinking of things before the rest of the general population of marketers and the rest of the population were thinking of (them).”
Lowrey helped innovate the local restaurant market by diversifying his company’s business strategies, including restaurants, a catering company and a dining club and eventually a magazine.
“His legacy for his business is that he created an unusual amount of assets to recreate and evolve after his passing,” Adams-Arrington said. “He was one of those unusual types who had a lot to offer while he was constantly recreating.”
Lowrey was born in Hillsboro, Texas, and grew up in Austin. He attended the University of Texas and was involved in various other business ventures before moving to Hilton Head in 1992.
He is survived by his wife Bonnie, sister Flo Lowrey, two sons, Pierce Lang Lowrey III and W. Lawson Lowrey, a daughter, Ginger Lowrey Blencove, and seven grandchildren. Two memorial services were held on Hilton Head and in Atlanta. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Hilton Head, St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta or a Hilton Head charity of your choice.
