HOULTON – Army Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Allen Lowery, originally from Houlton, was laid to rest with full military honors Saturday. Approximately 250 people attended the service at the Houlton Wesleyan Church.

“The world will be a lonelier place without him,” one friend said.

The 38-year-old died in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 14 when enemy forces attacked his unit. He was on foot patrol and died of wounds suffered during the gunbattle.

He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, III Corps, Fort Hood, Texas.

Lowery’s family, friends and former classmates and teachers from Houlton High School and the University of Maine at Presque Isle joined soldiers and veterans at the service. Gov. John Baldacci and representatives from Maine’s congressional delegation attended, as did Rep. Richard Cleary of Houlton and Sen. Roger Sherman of Hodgdon.

Members of the United Veterans Motorcycle Club and other veterans organizations stood outside the church holding flags during the ceremony.

Flags lined Houlton’s streets, and signs at local businesses thanked Lowery for his service and promised that residents would “never forget” what he had done for his country.

Baldacci ordered that flags throughout the state be lowered Saturday.

A slide show played at the start of the service showed Lowery as a child growing up on Cary Street, with classmates on his graduation day in 1987, and with his two boys, Sean, 11, and Dawson, 8. Lowery was divorced.

The boys, who live in Cyril, Okla., and Lowery’s father, Winfield Lowery of Houlton, received medals awarded posthumously to the fallen soldier during the funeral.

Family members clung to the boys during the ceremony, hugging them, while a soloist sang Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” in honor of Lowery.

The Rev. Marc Fuller, pastor of the Congregational church in Houlton, conducted the ceremony. He said that Lowery was “a friend to many, a leader to some, and a soldier through and through.”

“He loved his life and made a difference in the lives of many others,” he continued. “He trained soldiers as a drill sergeant and gave those men the skills to survive in the face of great adversity.”

Fuller also read sentiments written by people from across the nation on the Web site legacy.com.

“Jon Lowery was the best friend a guy could have,” wrote Brian Fortier of Augusta. “It was an honor to know him, grow up with him, serve with him in the Guard and the Army, and learn from his outstanding example. He will be missed greatly. The world will be a lonelier place without him for many including me, but I know that his life efforts have made it a safer place for all of us.”

“Jon was a long-time friend,” added Kindra Bender of Lawton, Okla. “He was dedicated to the Army and to his boys. …. He was happiest with them as you can see in his face. I know Sean and Dawson will make him proud as they grow into fine young men. Jon has a special place in my heart. I am blessed to have known him.”

Maj. Gen. John W. Libby, adjutant general of the Maine National Guard, praised Lowery as a dedicated soldier, father, son and brother.

“If death is a debt we all must pay, Jon paid it before he owed it,” Libby told the crowd.

During the ceremony, Fuller read aloud from a letter submitted by Lowery’s mother-in-law, Kathy Meason. Meason, who lives in Cyril, Okla., talked about a letter Lowery had written to his two sons from Iraq.

“Boys, I lay and look at the stars each night, and I am thinking of you and praying for you,” wrote Lowery. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

After graduating from high school, Lowery served in the National Guard. In June 1990 he joined the military as a cannon crew member, and served in Operation Desert Storm and Kosovo. Most recently he worked as a senior drill sergeant at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

He had been assigned to 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment since November 2006, and was deployed to Iraq last month for his second tour.

Lowery had received numerous military awards and decorations, including the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Valorous Unit Award, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Saudi Arabia Kuwait Liberation Medal, and Kuwait Liberation Medal. He also was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Maine Silver Star. The family also received the Gold Star Medal.

Baldacci also presented the family with a Maine flag that flew over the Blaine House in Lowery’s honor.

The casket was borne by pallbearers from Maine Military Funeral Honors.

As the soldiers folded the flag that cloaked Lowery’s coffin, only the sounds of sniffling mourners, the wind whipping the flags held by the veterans, and the footsteps of the soldiers folding the flag as they stepped on the hard-packed snow could be heard on the church grounds.

Spring interment will take place on Soldiers Hill in Evergreen Cemetery in Houlton.

jlbdn@ainop.com

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