Dad's Eulogy

Lowell Brent Plowman passed away Saturday, April 15, 2017, at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, Utah, from the effects of a prolonged illness. He was 73 years old.

Brent was born June 12, 1943, in Logan, Utah, the second of two children of Lowell Thomas and Bernice Nelson Plowman. Brent, a Cache Valley boy to the end, grew up working on the family farm, where he learned the values of responsibility and hard work. Throughout his life, he remained deeply grateful for and mindful of his LDS pioneer ancestry, including his great-grandfather John Jacob Plowman and his grandfather Christian Jorgensen Plowman, who crossed the plains to Utah by handcart after emigrating from Denmark in the 1860s; they eventually settled in Mantua ("Little Copenhagen") and then permanently in Smithfield.

As a youth, Brent was active in the Boy Scouts and attained the rank of Eagle. Especially memorable for him was the opportunity to travel to New York on a Scout Jamboree, where he visited the Sacred Grove in Palmyra and also saw Jackie Robinson play baseball at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. At North Cache High School in Smithfield, Brent excelled in his studies and played defensive end on the football team, earning All-Region honors and a scholarship to play football at Brigham Young University. A knee injury, however, ended those plans. Nevertheless, sports played an important part for the remainder of his life, and he often could be seen coaching his sons' basketball and soccer teams in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1961, Brent graduated from North Cache High School and then continued his studies at Utah State University in Logan, Utah.

In 1962, Brent accepted a calling to serve as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Northeast British Mission. He loved the British people and for many years after his service spoke with fondness of the many experiences he had across the pond. He also took the opportunity to take his family to England on multiple occasions to see those people and places as well as his British family members.

Upon his return home in 1964, "Wally" resumed his studies at Utah State University, where he enjoyed the social life and became active in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He graduated with an MBA in 1968. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a position in the Finance Department of the Ford Motor Company at their Dearborn, Michigan, plant.

Through mutual friends, Brent was reintroduced to Kathleen Attey, whom he had met briefly as a missionary years previously in England, while he was on a visit back home to Utah. After their courtship, they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan Utah LDS temple June 11, 1971. After brief stays in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Brent and Kathy raised their family and resided in Bountiful, Utah, for the majority of their life together.

The bulk of Brent's professional experiences were spent in various assignments for the LDS Church, giving him the opportunity to travel across the globe, including North and South America, Europe, and East Asia. A two-and-a-half-year stint as director of temporal affairs of the Church's Caribbean office took Brent, Kathy, and family to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 1988 to 1990, allowing Brent to meet and work with people all over the islands of the Caribbean. His other assignments included executive secretary to Elder H. Burke Peterson, president of the Church’s Southwest Area in North America; the Physical Facilities and Welfare departments; the Presiding Bishopric's office, where he worked closely with Bishop H. David Burton; and the Perpetual Education Fund, under the direction of Elder John K. Carmack, for which Brent became the organization's first controller in 2001.

After retiring in 2003, Brent worked part-time as a representative of the United Way. He also enjoyed opportunities to teach business classes at both LDS Business College and the BYU extension in Salt Lake City. He never stopped learning, earning an additional history degree from Utah State. He and Kathy also filled countless hours tending grandchildren and volunteering to teach reading at Hannah Holbrook Elementary School in Bountiful.

A lifelong member of the LDS Church, Brent relished his opportunities to serve as a stake missionary along with Kathy in Michigan, and he later was called as branch president of the University of Michigan student branch in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He also served in callings as high priests group leader, Gospel Doctrine and Sunday School teacher, coach, and home teacher, among many others.

Preceded in death by his parents and brother-in-law, William Dexter Sanders, Brent is survived by Kathy, his wife of nearly 46 years; children Michael (Jana), Layton; Jonathan, North Salt Lake; David (Jessica), Woods Cross; Benjamin (Adrienne), Centerville; Stephen (Summer), North Salt Lake; Elizabeth (Jeffrey) Wood, Centerville; 12 grandchildren; 1 great-grandchild; sister Marilyn Sanders, Fairfield, California; and numerous nieces and nephews in Utah, California, and England.

Brent's family are grateful to the health care providers who cared for him during the final days of his time on Earth, as well as the many friends and neighbors who blessed his life in countless ways over the years. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Perpetual Education Fund.