By Ron Pesch
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON–In a world of throwbacks – throwback jerseys, throwback games, throwback Thursdays – stands Thomas Lowe. Best known as T. L. to all, he is now part of the old guard at Muskegon High School and a throwback himself. 

In total, Lowe spent 46 years in public education. He started his career in 1971 at Angell School as an elementary school teacher and stayed with Muskegon Public Schools working much of his 35 years in special education. In 2006, he accepted a job with Coopersville schools to serve as that district’s Director of Special Education. He stayed for 8 1/2 years before returning to Muskegon, where he served his last years in that same role. 

Still, most people recognize Lowe from his countless days spent courtside at Redmond-Potter Gymnasium. All these years later, he’s still part of the school’s basketball program. These days, he can be spotted handling the scorebook for both home and away games for Coach Keith Guy’s basketball teams. He’s done that for all but one of Guy’s 9 seasons at Muskegon. 

Finding a Home

Lowe graduated from Central Michigan. It was late in August, as he recalled.

“I grew up in Dearborn, but I didn’t want to go back to the Detroit area. I had a friend that lived in Whitehall, and I was up there for a weekend. I got a phone call from Muskegon asking me to come in for a job interview. I had started to grow a beard or a mustache.”

Among the personnel manager’s questions was one on how connected Lowe was with his facial hair.

“If it’s between working and not working,” he responded, “it’s gone!

“I think I only interviewed in Bad Axe and Muskegon. I really didn’t know anybody other than my friend who lived in Whitehall.”

The one thing Lowe knew was that he wanted something different.

“I just moved away. My whole family stayed in the Detroit area for a long time.”

He was impressed with Muskegon as a city and the school district. 

“Detroit was not measured by distance. (Rather) everything was measured by time. Something that might take 10 minutes in Muskegon might take you a half hour in Detroit. I didn’t want to deal with it.

“Back then, in 1971 … a good friend who got hired at the same time, we discussed about the potential that Muskegon always had … I really thought that Muskegon was a diamond in the rough.

“Fifty years … it has finally come to fruition,” added Lowe.

An Unconventional Path

Lowe graduated high school in 1966 from Dearborn Fordson. While he participated as a kid in youth sports, his connection to school-sponsored athletics had been minimal. In middle school, he joined the basketball team, but never got on the floor. In high school, he played football on the school’s reserve team in 10th grade, but that was all.

“I couldn’t get my physical in 11th grade soon enough. We had a coach who said if you didn’t play football in 11th grade, you couldn’t play as a senior.”

For someone who spent years outside athletics, it is odd, in a sense, that most people recognize Lowe from his days tied to Muskegon sports.  

Lowe’s connection to Muskegon’s varsity basketball program dates to 1987, but his relationship to basketball in the district dates about a half-decade before that.

“A young lady at Nelson Junior High had resigned in July or August, so I applied for (and got) the job as girls basketball coach. 

“Ted Werle was a good friend of mine. He taught at Nelson (Junior High) but he was coaching (the girls) at Steele back then. So, he asked if I’d switch programs.  It was that simple.

”He got the worst part of the deal because there wasn’t a whole lot of talent at the time at Nelson. And Steele had a lot of talent back then. Shawndra Sain – she played for me. Marie Williams played for me. That’s how far back I go with those kids.

“Ted later got me the 9th grade boys basketball job at Nelson also. I did that for a year or two.  When he became the head boys varsity coach (at the high school) when ‘Butch’ Cantrell left, I helped him out on a volunteer basis.”

Before the 1988 season, Muskegon girls varsity coach Joella Lamont, who had helmed the team since the fall of 1975, needed to step aside.

“Her husband got sick, he had cancer,” Lowe explained. “She (resigned) to take care of him.”

Ron Murphy took over the varsity job, while Lowe took charge of the JV girls. Lowe’s been around, pretty much, ever since.  

Old yearbooks include team photos of Lowe as an assistant, working with the boys and girls squads under coaches Werle, Mike Ahrens, Art Duren, Cecil Hammond and Bernard Loudermill. He became the head coach of the girls program for three seasons in the late 1990s. He then left the position and worked with Steve Hoffman as the facility manager at the high school for about 7 years.

“I was one of the few administrators in Muskegon who lived in the city, other than the superintendent who was required to,” added Lowe. He lived a short distance from the high school. “Both of my girls graduated from Muskegon High School … They had a great education …To us, it was an easy choice.

“I still do the book for Keith because it’s fun watching the boys play,” said Lowe, when asked about what keeps him driven. “I enjoy being with kids.  And I think I can still make a difference.

“This year, I’ve been helping with the JV program. Bernard (Loudermill, Muskegon’s varsity girls’ basketball coach) asked me if I would help the new coach along with the process. I said ‘Yeah, I would do that.’

“I remember when I started doing basketball, Ray Wheeler ran the clock, Nellie Volz did the announcing. There was this long history of people who were engaged – a small fraternity. And your part of that. It was kind of cool. Muskegon has a rich tradition of doing things well, and once you’re part of that, it’s hard to let go.”