James O. Low, known throughout Tarkio as Bud Low, died in his home, Monday February 23rd after a long and valiant fight with pancreatic cancer.

Born in 1948 in Omaha, Nebraska to James Baker and Barbara Graf Low, Bud was raised with his two sisters in the farm house originally built for his grandfather and grandmother Olan and Myra Low.

The very last generation to attend the one room school house south east of Tarkio, Bud received his early education in the Homer School not far from the family farm. From grades 4 – 12, he attended the Tarkio Public Schools, graduating from high school in 1966. A varsity athlete in track, basketball and football, Bud set the pole vaulting record for Tarkio High School in 1966. Bud earned his Eagle Scout as a long time member of Boy Scouts of America, and was a member of the Tribe of Mic-O-Say.

He went on to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, graduating with a B.S. in biology in 1970.

It was at college that Bud met his future bride and life companion, Virginia Beug of Western Springs, Illinois. After a courtship of three years, Gini and Bud were married in 1972 in Western Springs, Illinois.

Following college Bud joined an Illinois reserve unit, and after his honorable discharge worked in a marina in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

In 1971 Bud returned to Tarkio to continue the tradition of farming that stretched back in his family for four generations. He raised beef cattle, soybeans and corn, and expanded the farm to cultivate land on the Missouri River bottom. For over three and a half decades Bud and Virginia farmed and raised their three children: Katie, Elizabeth and Doug.

Bud Low’s abiding love of the land and his strong sense of stewardship led him to expand the legacy of soil conservation begun by his father. Bud was one of the first farmers in the area to experiment with and advocate no-till farming, and was one of the earliest Atchison County farmers to irrigate the Missouri river bottom.

A lifelong Christian, Bud was an active and dedicated leader in the Tarkio Methodist Church where he was lay leader and trustee. For 12 years, he took enormous pleasure in teaching 1st and 2nd grade Sunday school. He also worked with junior and senior high school youth at The Haven, a recreational space he helped create in the church. He continued his commitment to youth work as a volunteer with troubled youth at the Tarkio Academy.

Bud was a founding member and facilitator of his local chapter of Promise Keepers where he received and gave sustenance, good counsel, and abiding friendship for over a decade.

A pilot since the age of 18, Bud was one of the founding members of the “Wing Nuts” the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). For several years he loved attending the Annual EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Even after his illness and its severe discomfort, Bud was the welcoming face of the “Wing Nuts,” acting as their meeter and greeter at the local annual Fly-Ins.

Within the past two years Bud and his son Doug began their dream of building an airplane – the Zenith 701, an experimental plane with short take-off and landing capabilities. The work married his love of flying with his considerable mechanical gifts in construction.

After his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and with the assistance and tenacious research of his daughters, Katie and Elizabeth, and his wife, Gini, Bud chose to forego traditional treatment and work with alternative therapies. Known as an aggressive and painful cancer that takes life within 2 -3 months, Bud Low lived with pancreatic cancer for well over two years, a remarkable testimony to his faith, his treatment, his will, and the diligent support of his family and friends.

Dedicated farmer, committed Christian, and avid flyer, Bud enthusiastically gave back to the community that had been his home for 60 years. At the 2008 Relay for Life, as a featured speaker, Bud Low described the indispensable support of his family and the maturation of his faith through his rugged two and a half year journey with cancer.

Bud Low died in the farm house built by his great grandfather, where he had grown up as a boy and where he and Gini raised their three children. His last days were filled with family and friends coming from every corner of the continent.

Bud was preceded in death by his mother Barbara. Survivors include his wife Gini; his children Katie Low Smith and her husband Preston, Elizabeth Low and Doug Low; his sisters Annette Kaplan and her husband Marshall, and Rebecca Low; his father James (Jimmie) B. Low and his wife Eileen; two cousins, Laura Hembree and Gilbert Hembree and his wife Janie.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 am Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at First Baptist Church, Tarkio.
The family will receive friends from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm following the service in the Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.
A private family inurnment will be held at a later date at Home Cemetery, Tarkio.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Tarkio Home Cemetery or Wing Nuts Flying Circus, Local EAA Chapter 1405, Tarkio.
Online condolences and obituaries at www.minterfuneralchapels.com.
Services under the direction of Davis Funeral Home, Tarkio.