Too Much Heart?

Wouldn't it be better to see newspapers filled with articles about good people rather than bad ones? Yet the latter dominates the pages. 

There really are more people with good hearts than bad and today I wanted to share a little about one such individual who will be buried this morning in Little Rock. A quiet soul with a Mississippi accent, Glenn Lowitz's heart gave out too early at the age of 62. Glenn was a friend from my Arkansas days as an adult.

It's fitting that memorials are to be sent to his synagogue, Congregation Agudath Achim as his week included hours donated to serving both his Little Rock and Arkansas Jewish communities. There weren't many religious functions at which Glenn wasn't present and he was on too many committees over the years to enumerate. Quietly also doing more jobs than most people knew- keeping the books, helping with membership, etc... He had a good heart.

In his professional life it was the same as he was a Child Psychologist and in private practice. It was a good fit as a good listener who nodded more and listened rather than dominating air space. He helped countless children over his career also serving as a mediator in the family courts and on advisory boards. He had a good heart.

 photo credit: Doris Krain

Glenn was a family man. He was attentive as a husband to Ellen and father to David and Brett, taking great joy in his family's accomplishments. In the last couple of years the family grew as he became a father-in -law to Mike and Susan. His smile was always bigger in his family's presence. He had a good heart. 

Our family was honored to call him a friend. During my adult years in Arkansas we socialized together as couples; attending the Rep, going out to dinner, helping each other celebrate life cycle events. Here's a pic at a Murder Mystery party. Glenn came dressed in his assigned part. He had a good heart.

He knew his way around the kitchen and his baked goods were at most events including my daughter's Bat Mitzvah. Just this past weekend I kidded him that roasted veggies at a recent shiva (visitation) brought by his wife were not the same as his baked goods. He laughed in his quiet way. He had a good heart.

And the last thing he said to me as he was heading out the door on Sunday night was asking me about my parents's health. He was just like that. You know now even without newspaper sensationalism, Glenn Lowitz had a good heart. 

It was his heart that gave out on him Monday.  We that knew him can repeat, "May his Memory Be as a Blessing."