Dick Low

Richard Adriance Low, 77, loving husband of Joan W. (Whitney) Low of Bridge Street, Salem, and former longtime resident of Hamilton, passed away on Thursday, April 29, 2021, from heart failure.

Dick was born in Greenfield, on September 25, 1943, son of the late Dr. Merritt B. Low and Marian (Johnson) Low. He grew up in nearby Deerfield. He attended Deerfield Academy and later Princeton University (A.B. 1966) where he majored in chemistry and was a member of the Tigertones a cappella group, the Quadrangle Club, and the ice hockey team. Dick was on the AMC Madison Springs Hut Crew in New Hampshire’s White Mountains during the summers of 1965 and 1966; this was an important formative experience during his college years. He met his great love Joan Whitney in the summer of 1965. They married at the Unitarian Church in Peterborough, NH on October 7, 1967.

After graduating from Princeton, Dick served in the US Navy as a lieutenant on the USS Robert A. Owens. He was honorably discharged in 1969 and went to work for Continental Oil Company. His son Thomas was born in 1969 and his daughter Vivien was born in 1970. In 1974 Dick entered Harvard Business School and earned an MBA with high distinction and designation as a George F. Baker scholar.

After graduate school, Dick and his family settled in Hamilton and he went to work at Bank of Boston. His 28-year tenure in commercial banking eventually took him and Joan around the world, from Massachusetts to Denver to Hong Kong, and finally to Saudi Arabia where he spent six years working for Riyad Bank.

Retirement found Dick heavily involved in his community. He served as chairman on the Town of Hamilton Board of Selectmen, as board member and treasurer for Cape Ann Habitat for Humanity, and as board member and treasurer for Revels, Inc. He was a program volunteer for Harvard Business School Association of Boston Community Action Partners (CAP), and both a board member and chair of the collections committee for the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. He served on the Mount Madison Volunteer Ski Patrol Board of Directors from the time of its inception in 1965, to the time of his death. He was an avid golfer and an associate member of the Myopia Hunt Club. He loved sailing and in 2007 fulfilled a life-long dream when he served as crewmember on a sail to South Georgia Island in the sub-Antarctic zone.

Dick was a rare blend of keen intellect and strength of heart. His genuine sense of humility, which acknowledged the equal worth and value of everyone he met, helped create not only a successful career but also a life overflowing with love.

Despite significant achievements and numerous professional successes, Dick was happiest hosting friends and relatives for holidays and religiously attending his grandson’s baseball games. A family man in the broadest and deepest sense of the phrase, Dick cherished most his roles as beloved husband, devoted father, and adoring grandfather.  While he leaves behind holes in the lives of those who loved him, he also leaves an indelible imprint in the hearts of those who knew him.

In addition to Joan, his wife of fifty-three years, he is survived by a son, Thomas B. Low and his wife Linda of Arlington; a daughter, Vivien R. Low of Portland, OR; a grandson, Oliver Low of Arlington; a brother, Robert B. Low of Richmond, VT; a sister, Margaret Low of Littleton; a sister-in-law, Elizabeth Low of Richmond, VT; and four nieces and nephews. He was the brother of the late Barbara Low Davies formerly of Greenfield.

A private burial with Military Honors will be held in the Hamilton Cemetery at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home of Ipswich. Donations in Dick’s memory may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation or the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. The OHA has made donations in Dick’s name to both of these organizations.