by SC Feature Writer Reanna Haase
Those involved in the Sanibel Island community are likely familiar with the name David Lowden, who has been associated with or supported nearly every local organization and business over the past three decades. More than just a part of his job at Bank of the Islands, those who know David say it’s just who he is.
“I believe he has attended every single business reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony that has taken place since (Hurricane) Ian,” said Cheryl Giattini, who has known David for nearly 30 years.
“And that’s not something that someone said to him, ‘you must do this,’ that is just the David Lowden way,” said Cheryl, Development Director of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, the first organization for which David joined the board and became the springboard into his community involvement.
“It’s wonderful and I’m very proud of him and all the work he has done,” said Kelly Lowden, his wife of 31 years. “I mean, he jumped into it almost 30 years ago, when he was on the board at SCCF. That was his first board membership on the island, and it just escalated from there,” she said.
David, hailing from Shaker Heights, Ohio, first visited Sanibel as a young boy with his family; they had a rental in the Sanibel Moorings Resort before buying a home on the east end. He decided to move full-time to the island in 1986, after graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder – it was supposed to be a short visit with his parents.
On his first day living here, David was windsurfing when Billy Kirkland of Billy’s Bikes approached him on the beach near Shell Harbor to ask if he would be a windsurfing instructor. “I ended up being one of Billy Kirkland’s very first guys working with him on the beach,” David said.
He eventually transitioned from windsurfing to real estate, then to teaching, and later to banking at both local and national banks, culminating in his current role as Vice President – Private Client Relations at Bank of the Islands.
“I’m just very fortunate, having been hanging around Sanibel since the early 1970s, and I’ve lived here much longer than anywhere else. I feel like I partially grew up here, although I tell people I’m still growing up at age 60 plus,” David said.
“It’s such a strong community, and to have a job where I can work in the center of that is just so unique. The fact that I can go to work every week and partner with all these other organizations to help them continue to thrive, at the same time, is pretty exciting,” he said.
Cheryl says David demonstrates his desire to help others in the community through more than just providing funding. “If the bank is a whole high school marching band, David is often the drum major,” she said. “He is the one out front who’s getting everybody organized and participating in ways that go beyond the financial support.”
For Earth Day, the SCCF team had the idea to collaborate with the Sanibel School to continue cleaning up the Pick Preserve, located across the street from the school, following its damage from Hurricane Ian.
Not only did the Bank of the Islands agree to support the project financially, but Cheryl said that, of course, David went above and beyond.
“Somebody sends me photos, and David is getting dirty in the mud with the students, planting,” Cheryl said. “Nobody asked him to do that. He wanted to make sure that the project went smoothly, and buying the plants and the bank’s contribution were not enough. He wanted to be a part of it.”
Since he decided to join the SCCF board all those years ago, David has become involved in multiple boards, including BIG ARTS, the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, and the Heights Charter School in Fort Myers, while also being actively involved in service organizations such as the local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs.
“The best thing about David is his involvement with all of these different non-profits and really being out in the community, doing things,” said Kelsey Hamilton, receptionist at Bank of the Islands. “He’s, you know, not usually sitting at his desk at work; he’s usually at a lunch meeting or SCCF or one of his board meetings.”
A handful of SC file photos from the past year of David Lowden’s various community support
Kelly said she and David immersed their three children in the island community at a young age and instilled a community mindset in them through their involvement in various organizations.
“We started taking the kids to the SCCF coastal cleanups when they were just 5 years old and 3 years old,” she said. “We’ve been doing it ever since, and I think that has kind of helped grow the love that we all have for the island.”
Now that all their children are in their 20s, they are exploring their passions. However, they still make an effort to spend time together as a family, especially while paddleboarding or kayaking, and enjoying the natural beauty of the islands.
“A few years back, we were all there [at the far end of Clam Bayou], and my wife and I were drifting on our paddle boards waiting for the rest of them to catch up with us, and we saw a pod of manatees,” David said.
“I drifted a little bit too close to one of the babies, and the mother went under my board and flipped her tail, and I went flying off my board. So I learned a lesson that day,” he recalled.
Ensuring they have enough time to get out and enjoy the island they put so much work into is essential for the family’s productivity. Kelly said during the island’s busy season, David is very involved with events and social gatherings, so they like to spend as much time together as possible in the off-season, reconnecting and recharging.
David has always been very hands-on, and a single board membership at SCCF has grown into something much more: a strong web of wonderful connections that define David’s relationship with the Sanibel community.
“If you were at a large gathering, whether it was a Chamber of Commerce luncheon or a non-profit gala, and you gave him a mic, I bet he could name and have a prior connection to more people in that room than anyone else,” Cheryl said.
David is wonderful when he is calling out our bingo numbers