The Central Pennsylvania Community Foundation has proudly administered The T. Dean Lower and Jane Young Lower Trust since 2011.

The Lower Trust gave its first grant in 2012. Since then, it has provided over $500,000 in grants to six local non–profit organizations. The Altoona Community Theatre, Altoona Symphony Orchestra, Blair County Arts Foundation, Blair County Historical Society, Historic Hollidaysburg, Inc. and Rails to Trails of Central PA have been fortunate to earn Lower Trust grants over the years.

T. Dean Lower was a 1935 graduate of Williamsburg High School. He graduated from Dickinson College and then Yale Law School in 1947. He served in WWII in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Jane Young Lower grew up in Oregon. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in music. A female university graduate and female musician were both rare prior to WWII.

T. Dean and Jane met at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon when she was working as a chambermaid, and he was a park ranger. They married in 1942. After WWII, the young couple lived in New Haven, CT while Dean finished his law degree at Yale. After graduation, Dean was ready to head back to his home in Blair County where he proceeded to practice law for 53 years.

Dean was an avid hiker and outdoorsman. Jane was very passionate about her home gardens. A violinist, Jane was in the Altoona Symphony Orchestra and served as its concertmaster at one point.

T. Dean and Jane had two children, Roger Dean and Janna. Sadly, Roger passed away in 1977. Jane passed away in 1987. Dean was instrumental in the development of the Lower Trail, which is named in his memory, and was a way for him to memorialize his late wife and son.

Dean endowed a chair with the Altoona Symphony Orchestra and supported many charitable organizations. Dean passed away in 2009. The Lower Lookout at Chimney Rocks is also named in Dean’s memory.

Dean and Jane’s daughter, Janna, makes annual decisions about what distributions to make from the trust named for her parents. She feels honored and privileged to be able to distribute her parent’s trust according to their wishes. Janna works hard to honor the legacy of her parents by supporting Blair County projects each year.