Helen “Tilly” Lowenfield Chandler was born March 17, 1937, in El Paso, Texas. She died on March 22, 2022 at age 85 in San Angelo, Texas.
Tilly was preceded in death by her beloved Burton Chandler, infant daughter Mia, brother Wallace Lowenfield, and her parents Helen and Ralph Lowenfield.
She is survived by sister Marianne Andrews (Stafford) of Houston, bother Ralph Lowenfield (Sandra) of El Paso, daughter Cenny Flores (Porfirio) of San Angelo, Robert Shepperd (Jamie) of Carrizozo New Mexico, and daughter Alyson Tuman (Kevin) of Lipan. Grandchildren include Shane Shepperd (Leslie) of Palmer, Alaska, Shawna Hillebrand (Lucas) of Tularosa, New Mexico, Chandler Flores of San Angelo, and Parker Staley of Lipan. Great grandchildren include Saige, Kason, Joseph, William, Shyan and Billie. Many nieces, nephews and godchildren will miss her.
Tilly grew up in El Paso but spent many summers at the family cabin in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, where she particularly enjoyed time with her beloved horse, Honey Bee. She was a graduate of the elite Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Tilly lived a life of service to her church, her community, and those she cared for. She had a unique ability to inspire her many friends who were devoted to her and her projects.
Tilly earned her first public service award in 1958 when she was a Junior League provisional. When placed in an understaffed child welfare office, she wrote a grant proposal for a special adoptions department. When the agency won the grant, it used the funds to adopt more than 30 children. She continued to serve on many Junior League projects over the years and received the Mary Harriman award—the highest honor awarded by the Junior League—in 1995 in recognition of her service. Named for the founder of the Junior League, there is only one woman so honored each year in the nation.
Tilly worked passionately in education, diversity, civic pride, museums and historical celebrations. Tilly and her sister were instrumental in starting VIPS (Volunteers in Public Schools) and impacted countless children in education. She taught at El Paso Community College for several years. She served as a translator at the United Nations.
Tilly felt San Angelo was much like the El Paso of her youth and became a champion of San Angelo and its history when she moved to the city in 1979. She worked at Fort Concho when she and Burton moved here. At Fort Concho, she developed such programs as Christmas at Old Fort Concho and Frontier Days. After Tilly worked at Fort Concho, she and Burton owned a telephone answering service, Answer Angelo/San Angelo Medical and Dental Exchange, for more than 30 years.
Tilly took great pride in bringing different groups together to accomplish goals. Moving Fort Concho School to its current location was one of those projects. Tilly and Burton were founding members of San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, which first was located at Fort Concho.
Tilly loved to share San Angelo history in the public space. She was a leader on the Las Dos Angelas project that placed bronze statues at the Visitors Center, telling the story of St. Angela de Merici and Angela de la Garza DeWitt. The Lady in Blue/ Historic Beginnings of San Angelo—her last major project—celebrates the story of Sor María de Jesús de Ágreda spreading the Gospel to the Jumano Indians. This led Tilly to travel as far as Ágreda, Spain, and Rome. The statues on the river and a documentary on the life of Sor María and the Jumanos, filmed in part in San Angelo, were elements of this multiyear project.
Tilly was passionate about her faith. She and Burton headed up RCIA (Right of Christian Initiation for Adults) at Holy Angels Catholic Church. Their vision and guidance in this program brought many people into the Catholic tradition. Tilly played a leadership role on the committee that built the Carmelite Monastery outside of Christoval, Texas. She continued to work with, be blessed by, and loved by the Carmelite nuns.
Granddaughter Shawna Hillebrand wrote of Tilly: “Nanny loved each of us fiercely. From spending her summers carting us around all over Texas to making trips to New Mexico for birthdays, graduations, Christmas celebrations, weddings, and everything else in between, she made sure we knew we were loved. Nanny helped our parents shape us into young adults that everyone would be proud of. She made sure everyone knew how proud she was of us, too, and would often pull out photo albums to show us off and share our accomplishments. We never had a doubt how proud she was to be our Nanny. With each generation after her, her heart grew more and more as did her pride in her family.”
Rosary will be Tuesday, April 12 at 7 p.m. at Holy Angels. Funeral Mass will be Wednesday, April 13 at 10 a.m. at Holy Angels, with burial to follow at Lawnhaven Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers include: Robert Shepperd, Shane Shepperd Luke Hillebrand, Parker Staley, Randy Stout, Len Mertz, Phillip Mertz, George Randall, Billy Hillebrand and Kason Shepperd.
The family wishes to thank Dr. Ty Hughston for many years of patient care; Hospice of San Angelo; and Victoria George for helping and loving Tilly through many challenges.
Donations can be made to Carmelite Nuns Christoval, TX; Carmelite Monks of Christoval; San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts; Fort Concho; Concho Valley Paws; Angelo Catholic School; and Trinity Lutheran School.
Rosary
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
7:00PM
Holy Angels Catholic Church
2309 A & M
San Angelo, TX 76904
Funeral Mass
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
10:00AM
Holy Angels Catholic Church
2309 A & M
San Angelo, TX 76904
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