Bert Lowies

My father was a brilliant man with a loving heart and a caring soul. He was an extremely intelligent man who loved the complexities of chess, the mechanical technicalities of a golf swing, crunching numbers of a new craps betting strategy, watching a busy beehive, sailing on gorgeous mirror-like waters, going on fantastical digital adventures, watching his son enjoy his hobbies and participating with him.

My father took no shit, and was a stubborn man. He was always so confident in his self and really stood behind things he said, sometimes to his detriment. I had many long arguments with my father about politics, and tried to open his viewpoints to expand his horizons and he reluctantly made attempts to acknowledge other opinions.

One thing my father never changed his opinions on were what he told me every day when I would go to work or leave the house: "do your best, bud". He always made me feel like everything was okay as long as I tried my hardest. My father worked extremely hard and was always tired, so he tried to relax and spend time with us as much as he could in between work trips. Even though dad used to go on trips when I was younger, we would always make it a point to go do something together when he was home.

He loved taking me to Frank & Sons Collectible Show and showing me all the pokemon card booths. He would buy boxes of packs of cards, not just packs of cards, for us to bring home and open together. He loved playing SSX Tricky, a snow boarding game on the playstation 2 with me. He found a way one day to beat my score on a level and wouldnt tell me how he did it. I got so worked up and he felt so bad he eventually told me how to do it. He let me beat his score and then never tried to beat it again. I loved spending time gaming with my dad.

He loved working the bees with me and fell so deeply in love with these creatures. He would sit for hours listening to the hum of the hives, the busy bees and smell the smells of the apiary. He loved smelling the different nectars dehydrating and was fascinated by the bees. He told me it reminded him of an ant colony he used to keep, but way cooler. When the bear came and busted up the hives he caved in and let me install an electric fence because he saw how hurt I was. We didn't do the bees this year because we were considering moving, but we still had honey in boxes outside in the apiary. Dad helped feed 3 baby black bear Cubs and a hungry mamma, just a few days before he left us as one final act of generosity to nature, and started bringing the bee equipment inside because I was lazy and left it outside. He loved feeding chipmunks with mom and watching their individual personalities come out. He loved my new aquarium hobby and told me about his angel fish he successfully bred one time.

He had spent a lot of time on a particular pokemon game, and had unlocked everything and caught them all. It was complete and he was happy. Dad, I'm sorry, but I tried to start a new game one time and I forgot that gameboys dont have multiple save files. I accidentally overwrote the save file and was too scared to tell you. I threw it away and I never told you. I'm sorry I never told you, but I knew how much of your time I wasted.

My father had several life long friends, but really started to grow apart from his family and friends when he moved out here to NH for his family. He constantly sacrificed his needs to satisfy ours.

The other thing my father always told me was "take care of mom for me" whenever he would leave for a trip. He would always thank me when he got home and his first question was always about mom. When he took his final trip he didn't have to ask, I heard him anyway. Dad, I will always take care of mom, let the universe take care of you now.

A celebration of life for Bert will be held Saturday, September 2, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at McHugh Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 283 Hanover St, Manchester, New Hampshire 03104.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.McHughFuneralHome.com for the Lowies family.