Honoring service at the Final Four

Apr 02, 2018

Lowe’s hosts military appreciation event in San Antonio

As a company that was founded by veterans, Lowe’s continues to honor and recognize military service. That tradition continued this weekend at the Men’s Final Four in San Antonio.

Lowe’s welcomed 20 military customers and their guests to enjoy Saturday and Monday’s games as a thank you for their service. The weekend kicked off Friday with a welcome reception, hosted by a coach that’s been to the Final Four nine times.

One of the attendees, veteran Mary Mann, described the weekend as an emotional break. She and her husband recently moved back in their home after it sustained severe damage during Hurricane Harvey. It took nine days for water to recede after the storm.

“The hardest thing was there wasn’t a Christmas card saved, there wasn’t an ornament saved,” Mann said.

Her birthday was the month following Hurricane Harvey. Her five children and grandchildren gave her sentimental cards to start building her collection again. Family is important to Mann, and also a contributing factor for why she joined the Army.

Her father served in World War II, and when Mann was in high school her brother was killed in the Vietnam War. That motivated her to become an Army nurse. She spent a few years at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. They helped patients from all over the world.

While Mann was in the Army she also got married to Anthony, her husband of 43 years and high school sweetheart. He was her guest this weekend.

1-205Fred Mayer and his wife, Patty, also came from Houston to enjoy the Final Four too. The couple was married on June 4, 1958, the day Fred graduated from West Point. He chose the infantry branch and graduated from the airborne parachute school and the Ranger course at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He was assigned to Korea after the war around the same time the Berlin Wall went up. Patty joined him for six months, where she lived on the economy and learned how to speak Korean.

His years in the Army took them around the world. Mayer spent a year in Vietnam where as a captain he commanded a rifle company in the 1st Cavalry Division and his family spent four years in London. During that time, he worked on research and development for the infantry and armor ranches and also chaired a committee in NATO. He worked in research and development at Fort Hood, Texas before retiring as Lt. Colonel in 1980. Mayer then joined a firm that had just won a safety contract for working on the NASA Space Shuttle. He worked with NASA for more than 23 years before retiring.

Mayer’s awards include a Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, Combat Infantry Badge, Ranger Tab and Senior Paratrooper Wings.

Lowe’s is proud to support military members and their families. For more information on Lowe’s military discount,click here.