Lowell Gene Cline, 78, of Santa Maria, California, passed away Saturday, February 9, 2019. Funeral services will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 9th at Royer Funeral Home, Oak Grove, MO; burial in Sni Mills Cemetery, Oak Grove. The family will receive friends from 11:00 a.m. until service time at the funeral home.
Lowell was born December 11, 1930, on a farm 4 miles south of Oak Grove, the son of Jason and Hazel (Hunt) Cline. He was the 2nd youngest of 8 children, which included 4 boys and 4 girls. Lowell attended Sni Mills School, a one-room school. Since there were no school busses at that time, he walked about 2 ½ miles each day to school. Lowell enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950 and retired after serving 20 years. He spent tours in France and Japan and was a firefighter the 20 years he served. After retirement, he worked as a firefighter at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California until he became part owner of a tool store in Santa Maria. Among Lowell’s hobbies were cars and car racing. He never missed watching a NASCAR race on TV. In the 1980’s, he attended The Daytona Race and The Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals. Lowell was the owner of a Sprint car in California that raced at the local tracks. He liked to buy older cars and owned a 1965 Mustang and a 1964 T-Bird that was like new.
Lowell was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, and two sisters.
His survivors include his wife, Hazel of the home; son, David Cline of Joplin, MO; brother, John Cline of Independence, MO; and two sisters: Opal Green of Independence, and Ruby Kabrick of Lee’s Summit, MO.
Arrangements: Royer Funeral Home, Oak Grove, MO 816-690-4441