John Jack Lowrance

John "Jack" William Lowrance died peacefully Monday, Jan. 18, 2010, at the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City, of complications related to a fall sustained the week before Christmas. He was 89 years old. Jack was born in Brigham City, Utah, to John William McKinley Lowrance and Mary Elizabeth Tyner. He was raised in oil field camps of Wyoming and Montana with a brief stay in Wisconsin as his parents tried their hand at homesteading. Jack attended various schools in the family wanderings before graduating from Cut Bank High School in Cut Bank, Mont. On March 14, 1942, Jack married Vera Ruth Nickeson (Ruthie) before entering the Army. They made their home on the Army bases and, after the service, in Cut Bank, where three children were born: Jacki, Danny and Kenny. In 1950, after several years in the oil fields of Montana, the family moved to Farmington so Jack could find relief from crippling arthritis aggravated by Montana winters. On March 29, 1955, five years after arriving in Farmington, Ruthie died in a car wreck. A year later, on Feb. 3, 1956, Jack married Barbara Collyer. Soon a fourth child, Mary Lynne, joined the Lowrance family. On Feb. 8, 1969, Barbara died at home of a blood clot related to open-heart surgery that replaced a faulty valve. On Oct. 17, 1969, Jack married Shirley Etta Snape Bruse, a Utah widow with five children: Susan, Todd, Barry, Rick and Lisa. Shirley and her youngest children joined Jack and Mari Lynne in New Mexico. In 1982, Jack and Shirley moved from Farmington to West Jordan, Utah, where many happy memories were made. In 2006, Shirley was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She began living in a care center, leaving Jack to live alone with daily visits to "his sweetie." After a bout with double pneumonia that left Jack very weak, he began living with his son, Dan, and daughter-in-law, Elaine, in South Jordan. This is where Jack spent the final two years of his life. Jack's occupations included oil field driller and shooter, entrepreneur, salesman, service manager and commercial airplane pilot (his life-long ambition). His accomplishments include being a WWII Army veteran, an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Boy Scouts of America leader, a couple missionary for the LDS church, a family history researcher, temple worker and community volunteer. His posterity includes four children who gave him 22 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren; and five stepchildren who have given him 16 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren. Jack is survived by his wife, Shirley, and sisters, Mary Cowley and Eileen Schraeder. Dad, we love you, we miss you and look forward to being with you again. John "Jack" William Lowrance died peacefully Monday, Jan. 18, 2010, at the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City, of complications related to a fall sustained the week before Christmas. He was 89 years old. Pallbearers are Dan Lowrance, Ken Lowrance, Hugh Wilson, Anthony Chavez, Jared Chavez and Jordan Chavez. Arrangements by Brewer, Lee & Larkin Funeral Home 103 E. Ute St. Farmington, Nm 87401 (505)325-8688