Media Release
09/02/2021
Contact Jody Harlan, DRS Communications Director
405.203.1318 cell
800.845.8476
jharlan@okdrs.gov
Family donation to OSD Foundation to fund annual award in memory of deceased graduate Dallas Lowry.
The Lowry family’s donation to the Oklahoma School for the Deaf Foundation will fund the annual
Dallas Lowry Fighting Heart Award in honor of their son and brother (from left): Father Scott
Lowry, brother Kale, mother Lacy, OSD Foundation member Bill Wright, and OSD Superintendent Chris
Dvorak.
SULPHUR, Okla. – Oklahoma School for the Deaf students and staff solemnly assembled Wednesday,
September 1, at 10 a.m. in the Larry Hawkins Activity Center gym to honor Dallas Lowry.
Lowry, a beloved OSD 2021 graduate, died on June 10 when he was hit by a car. He was riding his bike to work with his brother Kale Lowry in Broken Arrow.
Lowry’s father Scott, mother Lacy, and brother Kale presented a $15,000 check to OSD Foundation member Bill Wright.
“We decided we’re going to give these funds to the foundation from our family to all of you,” Scott
Lowry said. “We’re proud to do this. We’re happy to do it, so it can go to the Fighting Heart Award
every year to help others carry on and do what Dallas did.”
Lowry won the annual award for the 2019-20 school year, which OSD renamed the Dallas Lowry Fighting
Heart Award in his honor.
“Dallas himself was the perfect person for this award,” Athletic Director Levi Mathis said. “He was awesome. He was motivated. He was passionate. He was a leader and gave everything he had every
minute of his life.”
The award will now assist an OSD student each year with whatever he or she needs most, such as
purchasing a vehicle, education expenses, or an initial rent payment for an apartment.
Dallas Lowry graduated from OSD in May 2021
OSD students, staff, and foundation members surprised the Lowry family with a temporary memorial and plans for a wall with his story and a life-size photo. The temporary poster shows Dallas Lowry communicating ‘I love you” in American Sign Language and
holding out his fist for students to bump in the gym hallway.
Football Coach Jason Sledd, “I will make sure that his legacy lives on with the students here at
OSD.”
During his high school career, Lowry participated on the football, basketball, track, and golf teams and was named to the OSD honor roll. He was a member of the 2018-2019 football team which earned a
Great Plains Schools for the Deaf co-championship.
Lowry represented OSD as a Student Ambassador, Key Club member, and participant in Occupational
Training Opportunities for the Deaf, an OSD employment program.
“What Dallas meant to this school, and what this school meant to him is so hard to express in words,” OSD Superintendent Chris Dvorak said. “His greatest accomplishment was earning the admiration and friendship of everyone he was around.
“He seized life here at OSD with intensity and joy,” Dvorak added. “We hope that each young person
in our school will continue to be inspired by Dallas and will experience the same vigor for life."
Oklahoma School for the Deaf is a deaf education immersion school, which offers challenging academic programs meeting all state-mandated education requirements plus specialized instruction with no communication barriers. The school also provides free outreach services to students attending other public schools, their families, and local school systems. For more information,
phone 580-622-4900 or visit http://www.osd.k12.ok.us/.
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