LOWELL IN HIS YOUNGER DAYS.

Lowell was born and raised in Wetumka, Oklahoma mainly by his Mother Blanch along with his 4 sisters Wanda, Virginia, Janette and Evelena. Father Lee was out of the picture early and as far as I know did little to provide the family. Poor is definitely the way the family lived, Blanch being the sole provider as a waitress at the local cafe. But living in Wetumka at that time before WW2, everyone was poor so they all made the best of it. Lowell told me of his adventures as a youth, spending most of the Summer barefooted and playing along the local irrigation ditches, and cotton gins. He joined the Army and was deployed to Germany for year before a stateside assignment in Sacramento, CA. There he met a young lady by the name of Amelia Olenslager and had a summertime romance before going separate ways.

After leaving the army he returned to Oklahoma and worked on the pipe lines while hanging out with pals like John Thomas, Jimmy Clanton and James Earl. Lowell always had a lead foot and loved to party. In small town Wetumka everyone knew Lowell including the authorities. In one incident, he and his pals were speeding along on a Friday night when a cop got on their tail. Lowell knowing the back roads lead them to a washed out section of a road that just like in the movies he avioded but the cop didn't and that ended that chase. Another story he told me was when he and John Thomas got into a nasty wreck on another wild weekend where they both walked away alive but minus one ear on John Thomas. The car was totaled and taken to a wrecking yard only to become a traveling public display of why you don't drink and drive!

HANDSOME SOLDIER!

Amelia (Millie) had also gotten married and divorced during there years apart except she had a little baggage. 4 little bags to be exact. At the same time Lowell filed for unemployment, Millie was working for EDD in Sacramento and one of the only times that the automatic envelope stuffer broke, her group had to hand stuff the envelopes. Incredibly she was about to stuff one and noticed L. D. Cook, Wetumka, OK! She copied down the address and wrote him a letter that night asking if he was the one and the same? Of course we know the answer! Lowell and Millie were married, her continuing on at EDD and Lowell working at the Army Depot. Raising 4 kids has it's ups and downs with all of their successes and failures. You have to deal with their problems and this includes what they bring home such as boyfriends. I met Lowell in 1981 and we hit it off from the get go. Beer drinking, country music and solving the worlds problems became a regular thing!

10 years later I met Kathy Malone in June of 1991 and not long after that she met Lowell and Millie. Yes they were the Grandparents of my kids, but they were also my close friends so having them in my life with Kathy was essential. I even took Kathy over to Lowell's sister Wanda's place in San Jose to meet her in our first year of meeting each other. Lowell and Millie moved to Oaklahoma for a few years so other than a phone call once in awhile we didn't see them for that time period until they decided to move back to California. They ended up in Auburn, CA not far from our home in Loomis, CA and we continued our friendship in person again. Then it was our turn to move away albeit not as far as Oklahoma, but just over the border to Reno, NV. Both of them made the trip to our home in our first year of ownership, and both made other trips their to join us at the Reno casinos. Lowell came up more than Millie for things such as Hot August Nights and the Rib Cook Off. When we were in CA we usually parked our RV at Kathy's sister Ann and husband Scot's home in Newcastle, CA a little closer to Auburn than our Loomis home was. Quite a few times I would walk to their home and as when we first met drank a few beers and solved the world's problems until Kathy came and joined us.

In 2017, Wanda passed away back in her hometown of Wetumka and Lowell, Millie, Sammie, Kathy and I loaded up the RV and made the trip back their to pay our respects. Kathy was able to see where Lowell grew up and meet some of his friends and family. We made a sad occasion a into a celebration of life and had alot of fun on the return trip. Now 2 years later it looks like we will be making another trip there to Wetumka to mourne the loss of a great man while again celebrating what life is while we are still here. Love and miss you Lowell!