AIC Campus Update
October 22, 2021
Due Diligence
October 23, 2021
Remembering Lani Lowrie Kretschmar '77
Margaret Leilani Lowrie Kretschmar—known to her many loved ones as Lani—passed away on July 13, 2021.
BY BRENDAN GAUTHIER
A native of Gloucester, MA, Lani graduated from AIC with a degree in sociology in 1977 and later earned a master’s of business administration from Western New England College in 1986
Her mother, Doris G. Lowrie, and two younger sisters, Deborah Kenniston and Bonnie Worosz, also graduated from AIC, and her father, Robert E. Lowrie, was a professor of sociology and anthropology at the College from 1964 to 1996.
“I’d been on campus since I was nine years old,” Lani told this publication in a 2016 profile. “The physical campus was part of my life, and it was a very close-knit community.”
After graduation, she worked for more than twenty years as a corporate administrative assistant to the CEO and chairman of the board of the former Dexter Corporation in Windsor Locks, CT, before successful stints at the Universities of Hartford and Massachusetts Medical School.
She returned to AIC in 2012 as executive assistant to President Vince Maniaci and secretary to the board of trustees.
“Lani showed from the get-go that she was a consummate professional,” Maniaci told Lucent in 2016. “She is constantly looking out for me, whether it is a simple reminder or a potential challenge downstream, she is always thinking ahead. She brings me solutions for every challenge she identifies.”
The Lowrie sisters: Deborah '79, Bonnie '84, and Lani in the Edgewood Gardens. Photo credit: Morgan R. Davis '65.
Krestchmar receives her degree in sociology in 1977 at American International College.
Associate Dean of Students Alexander Cross says Lani taught him “that even when things were challenging, AIC has persisted, and we all must do the same.”
Chief Operating Officer Nicolle Cestero, who worked closely with Lani as President Maniaci’s chief of staff, considered her “a kindred spirit.” She adds, “We looked at things in a similar way and could finish each other’s thoughts.”
“Lani was part of what makes American International College special,” says Public Relations Manager Candy Lash.“ Her devotion and love of the College was contagious. From my perspective, her delightful sense of humor, kindness, and compassion contributed to Lani being representative of the heart and soul of AIC.”
Fittingly, and at her family’s request, her memorial was held on campus, at the Esther B. Griswold Theatre for the Performing Arts, on July 22, 2021. “My heart breaks for the AIC community,” her son, Andrew, eulogized, “because I know what a loss this is.”
In litanies of her virtues, colleagues seldom exclude Lani’s attention to detail (grammatical and otherwise), ability to heighten official discourse, and profound, unending love for her family—especially her “much-adored granddaughters,” as Lash refers to them. “I loved talking to her about her family, especially her grandbabies,” says Cross. “Her grandkids brought her the greatest joy,” says Cestero.
Lani's father, Robert E. Lowrie, professor of sociology and anthropology at American International College from 1964 to 1996.
Lani, adds Cross, “was more than a colleague;” she was “a friend I always looked forward to seeing at the Stinger Pub on Thursday afternoons.” Lash, too, will miss their time spent together at the Stinger, where, “Her motto, ‘What’s said at the Stinger, stays at the Stinger,’ allowed everyone the freedom to be at ease and relish being together in a warm, relaxing, and fun environment.”
Lash remembers the last of her ritual lunchtime chats with Lani, who’d discovered, on close inspection, that she had not one but two similarly hued hummingbirds frequenting her garden. They’d often joked about Lash’s failed efforts to attract hummingbirds to her own garden.
“As for those elusive hummingbirds,” she says, “we now have a frequent visitor in the early evening. I wish I could tell Lani. I wonder if she knows. Maybe, just maybe, she’s had a hand in his stopping by.” (She hastens to add: “I know, Lani: never end a sentence with a preposition.”)
Lani is survived by her mother, Doris G. Lowrie; sisters, Deborah Kenniston and Bonnie Worosz; children, Andrew Kretschmar and Christine Freiburger; and grandchildren, Eliza and Ottilie.
