William Bernard Lower

William Bernard Lower, age 98, of Fair Play, Missouri passed away on Saturday, August 24th after a short stay at Colonial Springs nursing home in Buffalo, Missouri. Bernard was born at the Lower home place and dairy farm on Hwy 32 in Fair Play on January 31, 1926. Bernard was a lifelong dairy and beef farmer, carpenter, and working for brother Fred at Lower Greenhouses. He was married for over 65 years to Helen (Hammer) Lower until her passing in 2018. They lived and worked on their home farm north of Fair Play their entire married lives. Bernard was the third child of 10 children born to Jesse and Elsie Lower. After attending Potts rural grade school and high school at Fair Play, Bernard enlisted in the Army where he proudly served in Adak, Alaska. After leaving the service he met Helen while taking veterans classes with her brother LT Hammer. They then milked cows at their farm for over 20 years before taking a job building houses in Bolivar, Missouri. Bernard and Helen were a devoted and dynamic team their entire married lives with each complementing the other’s strengths as they raised kids, grandkids, gardens, livestock and were pillars of their church and community. Bernard attended Bismont church as a youngster then was a lifetime member of Fair Play First Baptist church. Bernard’s testimony included his acceptance of Christ while working in the cornfield at the farm. He spent countless hours of service at the church in construction of the sanctuary, cutting wood for the church furnace and any repair job that needed to be done. He and Helen were active through the years in mission work, especially working with the Navajo people in Window Rock, AZ. From a young age Bernard was all about construction and mechanical skills. He had an extraordinary skill at looking at a farming or construction situation and working out a solution before constructing it by hand. Later in life he became a consummate woodworker and gave away many ornate woodworking pieces. He built every single structure at the farm including their home, all the barns and outbuildings and even the swimming pool. Whether it was on the farm, at the greenhouse or in his woodworking shop his hands were never idle. Bernard and Helen always valued education and somehow on meager earnings managed to encourage and send all five of the kids to college where they all received their degrees from the University of Missouri or SMSU. Bernard was preceded in death by his father Jesse, mother Elsie, brother James Richard Lower and infant brother Jesse Eugene, sisters Beulah Watkins, Bertha (Roberts) Periman and Betty Sexton, and granddaughter Jessica (Lower) Hopper and Jim and Diana’s infant granddaughter. Bernard is survived by his five children: Bill and wife Janetta of Fair Play, Sam and wife Cathy of Marshfield, Linda Hall and husband Ward of Fort Wayne IN, Cathy Whaley and husband Greg of Fair Play and Jim Lower and wife Diana also of Fair Play. Bernard has eighteen grandchildren. They include Joel-Michael Austin, Tom Johnson (Cara), Becky Johnston (Jeremiah), Tyler Lower (Danielle), Meghan Smith (Randy) Ellana Robinson (Brian), Kara Hall, Colten Harris (Wendy) Caleb Whaley (Kenzie), Elisabeth Barrier (Ryan), Hannah Whaley, Lindsey Anderson (Matt) and Luke Lower (Chrissy), fifteen great grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren and two great-grand babies on the way. Bernard is also survived by brothers John Lower of Bolivar, Fred Lower of Fair Play, Larry Joe Lower of Parkville MD and sister Ann Hewes of Tallahassee, FL. The family wants to extend special gratitude to Mary Presley and Joyce Ingram for their dedication helping with care the last three years. Bernard Lower will be missed by many and was loved by all his entire life. Memorial donations can be made to the Jesse and Elsie Lower scholarship fund or Fair Play FFA chapter. A visitation will be held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Thursday, August 29, 2024, at Butler Funeral Home in Bolivar. Funeral services will take place at 1:00 PM on Friday, August 30, 2024, at Butler Funeral Home in Bolivar. Burial will follow at Barren Creek Cemetery.

William Bernard Lower

January 31, 1926 - August 24, 2024