Dr. Harry Kalman Loew was born July 10, 1878. His grandfather, Dr. Arthur Wolff, served as US Army Surgeon at Fort Brown during the Civil War. After the war, Dr. Arthur Wolff was a physician in Brownsville, Texas.
As a young man, Harry Loew would go with his grandfather on his rounds. Yes, in those days doctors made house calls. He studied with his grandfather and then attended The University of Texas in Austin from 1897 to 1904. He passed the New York Medical Board as well as the Texas and Mexico Medical Boards.
In 1907, Dr. Loew decided to practice medicine in Brownsville as a physician and surgeon. He served as the city health officer until he entered military service in 1916 as a medical officer in the US Army Medical . He served with distinction in France and Germany during World War I. He attained the rank of Major by 1918.
Dr. Harry Loew returned to Brownsville in 1920 to resume his practice and was reappointed as city physician. He was a charter member of the Brownsville Rotary Club and was a Mason. He took up golf and became a local champion golfer. He also was a leader in the growing Jewish community in Brownsville and helped in the fund-raising for building the first Temple Beth-El synagogue which was finished in 1933. Sadly, he died before he had a chance to see the completed building.
In 1932, Dr. Harry Loew, while playing golf, got a thorn imbedded in his finger. The next day he was admitted into the hospital with blood poisoning. A blood transfusion did not help him, and he died five days after being hospitalized. It would be years before penicillin would be available and Dr. Lowe had few treatment options. Dr. Harry Kalman Lowe died on August 3, 1932, at fifty-four years of age. He is buried in the Wolff family plot in the Hebrew Cemetery.
