(1957 Graduate Of Pettisville High School)
Lowell M. Nofziger (86) of Wadsworth, OH, died on August 27, 2025, in Cleveland, OH. Born in Wauseon, OH, on August 17, 1939, to Ralph and Beulah (Nafziger) Nofziger, he is survived by his wife of nearly 65 years, Lucie Schrock Nofziger.
Also surviving are his children, Lori Nofziger (Ben Kimmel) and Joseph Nofziger (Linda McCormick), and grandchildren Baz Nofziger, Obadiah Kimmel, and Katie Brown. Also surviving are his brothers-in-law, James Miller and Russell Siegel, as well as many nieces and nephews, cousins, and good friends.
Lowell served as a paternal mentor to his nieces, Cindy, Betsy, and Susan Nofziger, and his nephew, Tom Nofziger. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother William (Lois), and sisters Marilyn Siegel and Anna Miller.
Lowell grew up on a farm one mile east of Pettisville, OH, graduated from Pettisville High School (1957), received a BA in Sociology from Goshen College (1965), and his MSW from Michigan State University (1967).
After graduate school, Lowell worked as a psychotherapist at several mental health agencies until he began a private practice, which he continued until his retirement in 2008.
During that time, he also taught parenting and teacher education in all of the elementary schools in the Wadsworth school system.
Lowell loved music and singing and sang in and directed numerous small groups and choruses. He sang in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus for 15 years.
He was choir director at Wadsworth First Mennonite Church for 20 of the 55 years he was a church member. Lowell met his future wife, Lucie, in the Goshen College Chorus, and the two sang together on many occasions.
In 1977, Lowell joined the Hospice Council of Northeast Ohio and developed Hospice of Medina County (now part of Hospice of the Western Reserve) and became its first board chairman in 1981. The hospice building that stands at Route 18 and Windfall Road operates today as a testament to his efforts.
Lowell requested that memorial donations be made to HMC Hospice of Medina County, 5075 Windfall Rd., Medina, OH 44256. The family is planning a celebration of life.
Lowell wanted to share these words by Robert N. Test:
Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.
Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God.
If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.
If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.