Lowell Boomer

G. Lowell Boomer of Lincoln, Nebraska, died Sunday 20 November 2011. Boomer was the founding father of the United States Dressage Federation in 1973.

Lowell was born on October 12, 1911, in Burwell, Nebraska, to George R, and Grace Y Boomer. Lowell graduated Lincoln High School, and attended the University of Nebraska School of Music, Lincoln. While in High School, he won first place on the clarinet in a Lincoln Music contest playing “Concertino” by Weber. He then went on to win the contests at the State, Regional and National levels. He played clarinet for many years in the Lincoln Municipal Band summer concert series in Lincoln, alongside his wife, Gladys who played trumpet.

Lowell studied printing while in Junior High School, and started a letter shop with a mimeograph and multigraph machine in his mother’s Teachers Employment Agency. It grew to become Boomer’s Printing Company, which Lowell would head as President for the next eighty years, at which time he sold the company to its employees.

His avocation has been a lifetime love of horses, and he became internationally renowned in the equestrian world. He was the founder of The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) in Lincoln in 1973, and served for sixteen years as its Chief Executive Officer. Today, USDF is headquartered in the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, with over 30,000 members nationally. In 1989, he established The Dressage Foundation in Lincoln, Nebraska “to cultivate and provide financial support for the advancement of Dressage.” The Dressage Foundation’s national headquarters is permanently anchored in Lincoln. He has won an extensive array of equestrian honors throughout his lifetime. He was the first inductee into the USDF Hall of Fame, and has received the USEF (United States Equestrian Federation) Lifetime Achievement award. The Chronicle of the Horse named Lowell as “one of the 50 most influential horsemen of the 20th century worldwide.”

Lowell Boomer was an active, lifetime member of the Lincoln Downtown Sertoma Club, and was involved with Sertoma’s sponsorship of Cedars Home for Children when it was founded in 1947.

Lowell is survived by son John and wife Lynn, Lincoln, NE; Son Jim, Ft Wayne, IN; three grandsons John Boomer, jr., David Boomer, Mark Boomer; two grand daughters Beth Bivins and husband Mike, and Melissa Kleber and husband Robert; Three great grandsons Adam and Benjamin Boomer, Adam Kleber. Lowell was preceded in death by his wife Gladys, his parents, three brothers and one sister, and daughter-in-law, Lois. He leaves many nieces and nephews, friends and former horsemanship students.

The family suggests Memorials to The Dressage Foundation, 1314 ‘O’ Street, Suite 305, Lincoln, NE 68508 and/or Cedars Home for Children, 6601 Pioneers Blvd, Lincoln, NE, 68506.

Private family burial of cremains, Wyuka Cemetery. A “Celebration of Life” Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 11:00 A.M. at Roper & Sons Mortuary, 4300 ‘O’ Street, Lincoln NE, 68510.

Arrangements by Roper and Sons Funeral Services. Condolences or personal reflections may be left at www.roperandsons.com.