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Raymond S. Low, Bucks businessman

Raymond Stewart Low, 87, of Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, a self-made businessman, died Saturday, April 12, of heart failure in Chandler Hall Hospice Care at St. Mary Medical Center, Newtown.

Raymond Stewart Low, 87, of Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, a self-made businessman, died Saturday, April 12, of heart failure in Chandler Hall Hospice Care at St. Mary Medical Center, Newtown.

Born in San Francisco, he grew up in California before moving to New Jersey in 1941, and then to Bucks County.

Mr. Low (pronounced like Dow) graduated at age 17 from the Peddie School, and immediately joined the Marines to fight in World War II. He saw combat on Okinawa.

After the war, he earned a business degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1948, he married Elaine Wallis. The couple moved to Pittsburgh so Mr. Low could take a job as a salesman for the John Flocker Co., which sold mining supplies. Three years later, Mr. Low joined the Electrical Wire Division of the John A. Roebling Co. He was the firm's Philadelphia district manager.

His son, Lawrence, described his father as the consummate salesman. "He started selling things at a single-digit age," his son said.

In 1961, Mr. Low founded Low Associates in Fairless Hills, a manufacturers' representative of electrical products. The name was changed to Synergy Electrical Sales in 2001; it is still in business.

He served as president of the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association in 1983, and was proud of his 57 years with the Philadelphia Tin Hats. The Tin Hats - contractors and business executives in the electrical industry - got together to play golf and cards.

He belonged to the Union League of Philadelphia, Vesper Club, Trenton Club, Engineers' Club of Philadelphia, and the Electrical Association of Philadelphia.

He was a member of the Trenton Country Club for more than 50 years. He enjoyed vacationing at his second home in Avalon, N.J.

A resident of Lower Makefield for almost six decades, he served on the township planning commission and its industrial development commission, and was chairman of the Lower Makefield Republican Club.

For many years, he attended Morrisville Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon, trustee, and elder. He then joined Newtown Presbyterian Church.

Besides his son and his wife of 66 years, he is survived by his daughters Melanie Wright and Leslie Stanley; another son, Craig; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. A grandson died earlier.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 23, at Newtown Presbyterian Church, 25 N. Chancellor St. Visitations will be held at the Swartz/Givnish Funeral Home, 323 Washington Ave., Newtown, on Tuesday, April 22, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the church.

Interment is in Washington Crossing National Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to the Greg Wolf Fund, via www.thegregwolffund.org, or the Wounded Warrior Project, via www.woundedwarrierproject.org.