Highly educated and experienced in religious ministry, Lowell Martin has worked all over the world, mentoring those seeking to know God. And though some say he’d make a darn good pastor or teacher, Martin figures the best way to serve his maker is to help others in the way that Jesus did. “The people who mentored me when I was young, they served. That’s what the Lord did. To be authentic and not just religious is a big challenge in life. I’m working at it, and I am not perfect. I struggle just like everybody.” In this spirit, 13 years ago he jumped at the opportunity to work on the custodial staff at Scofield School and Church in Lake Highlands, where he had been a member since the early ’90s. Martin has been there for the Scofield community when toilets get clogged or kids hurl up their lunches, when a light goes out or a school-play stage needs props. He also fields some of the complaints from neighbors when balls fly off the playground into yards, for example, and he is always gracious in receiving them, says Wanda Campbell, who works in the school’s administrative office. “You will not find a more selfless, kind and understanding person,” Campbell says. “He is a knowledgeable and educated man who has, remarkably, chosen this life of service.” He could have taken a variety of career paths, says Pastor Jim Cassidy, Martin’s supervisor. “He quietly and humbly does his job and the whole community is better for it.” Campbell says she has never once heard a complaint from Martin. “Just yesterday in the freezing cold, he was out changing letters on the sign. In fact, nothing happens here that Lowell isn’t somehow a part of, or that he isn’t helping with in some way. But it’s not what he does so much as the great care with which he does it. That sense of service and giving is an oddity these days.”  —CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB  

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