- Date Of Birth: November 26, 1955
- Date Of Death: November 3, 2021
- State: Idaho
Quirt Howard Lowe passed in his Grangeville home on November 3, 2021 of natural causes. He was born to Jeurald Alden Lowe and Tressie Edna Howard on November 26, 1955 in Council, ID. Growing up roaming the Salmon River Country, he attended Riggins High School where he enjoyed playing sports with his brothers and going to dances. He got his first guitar when he was 13 years old, and was proud to share the musical talents of his family, loving to play music and sing all of his life.
He had a passion for training young horses, rodeoing, and raising quality stock. While attending Central Arizona College he was an accomplished Bareback rider and team roper on the rodeo team. He was fascinated with animal science and genetics, while he excelled at competitively judging livestock. He married Debbie LeSueur and they had two children, Chanda and Cody. They split up as he was ending college, and he moved back to Idaho.
He was appointed Supervisor of the Idaho County Noxious Weed Control Program, working in the court house. He soon married Donna Morffard, and they bought a ranch on Sally Anne Creek off the Clearwater River. They raised Limousin cattle until their relationship ended, and the ranch was later sold. Quirt then went to work logging for himself and various outfits. His attention to detail and hand eye coordination helped him become a top-notch operator of loaders, bulldozers and other equipment.
He met Mayah Warner(Lowe) with her son Mike, and they were married on the Joseph Plains. They lived and worked near Elk City where they had a son Clayton. They then moved to Enterprise Oregon where Quirt worked training horses for Fay Olson, and they had a daughter Toviyah on Swamp Creek. Next, he worked logging in the Ukiah area, then moved the family back to Ferdinand Idaho where he logged for Marvin Jackson. They had another son Ethan, then Mayah and the kids later moved back to Imnaha Oregon while Quirt went to work logging in Alaska. Eventually joining the family in Imnaha he worked training horses, and operating loader at the Wallowa Mill. He enjoyed teaching his kids to ride, shoot, and sing. He continued to play music with Tim Collins and friends on the river. Although guitar was his instrument of choice, he played many others well! When he and Mayah divorced he moved back to northern Idaho.
He met and married Jinny Cash, and started their QL Quarter Horse operation on her place near Vale, Oregon. They moved the business to a parcel near Grangeville, and continued to expand their herd. Quirt enjoyed being back closer to his roots and playing poker and music with family and friends. He was excited to work guiding hunters and summer trips on the Gilmore Ranch for Lockey U Outfitters. He also got very busy researching family history, and loved sharing what he found. Family was always very important to him, and he was proud of the family he was a part of. He often bragged on the musical and artistic talents of his family and the accomplishments of all his kids.
After he and Jinny divorced, he lived in Boise, then Council for a time. Multiple ankle and other injuries from younger years pushed him into disability, and life slowed down. He went back to work on genealogy research, and grew garden plants. He was blessed by the appearance of a high school love, as Shannon Patton came back into his life. He soon shared her home in Grangeville and he took up raising pigeons and gardening.
