"Ernie Ray Lowe — or Pinto, as he was affectionately called by many — died at his home in Bakersfield on Aug. 17, 2026. He was 74.

He was born Jan. 26, 1952, in Holdenville, Okla., the youngest of four children of Johnnie and Velma Irene (Russell) Lowe. The family came to Wasco when he was 5, and Wasco was home for most of his life.

He wrestled and ran cross country at Wasco Union High School, lettering in both for three years, and graduated in 1970. At Porterville College he wrestled again and bought a Pinto — the car that gave him the nickname — and studied psychology before moving to the Bay Area. He loved to tell people about "Pinto's Poluptuous Peanut Butter Pancake Palace of Porterville," where he would make peanut butter pancakes for anyone who wanted them.

In 1973 he went to work at Foster Farms, loading trucks and later driving them, a job that suited a man who was happiest in motion. He met Virginia Marie Andrews there. In 1985 he moved back to Wasco and took over Lowe Bros. Hay Service, the alfalfa business his father and uncles had started in 1959, and ran it until it closed in 2010. He and Virginia married in 1986, and their daughter, Maya, was born in 1988.

He loved cars the way his father had. Over the years he owned a multitude of cars, including three Plymouth Prowlers, an '82 Corvette Collector Edition, a '54 Ford Victoria, and his pride and joy, an orange 1965 Ford Galaxie. He belonged to the Old Farts Car Club in Wasco and the Southern California Prowler Club, and he never turned down a car show or an excuse to drive somewhere. A noted lead foot with more tickets over the years than he could count, he also loved to see just how fast he could make his go-karts run, rebuilding the engines and trying different fuel mixtures over the years.

Music was the other constant. He was a Deadhead, but he'd listen to anything as long as it was good, from The English Beat to Selena Gomez to Burning Spear, and everything in between. He loved to make a mixtape, filling the last minutes of a side with a short song or a bit of stand-up so the flow came out right, giving each one a title, and carrying a stack of them in whatever he was driving. He played his music loud no matter where he was, which was usually in one of his cars.

He was, in the best possible sense, a man who didn't take things too seriously. He could turn nearly everything into a joke, the more innuendo the better, and he laughed and joked frequently. But he had another side that came out when he served as an AWANA leader at First Baptist Church and when he volunteered to teach a computer class at North Kern Christian School. He was thoughtful, kind, and had a levity to him that showed up everywhere.

He traveled to China five times. On one of those trips he met Jing Ying Zhang, and they married in 2008. Following the closure of Lowe Bros., he spent his time working on his cars and his go-karts, going to car shows, and bowling with his friends until an injury made him quit.

He is survived by his daughter, Maya; his stepdaughters, Julie Vaughn and Yue Yue Song; his grandchildren, Emily, Evelyn and Justin; his brothers, Johnny Michael Lowe and David Lowe; his sister, Sandra Woods; his former wives, Virginia and Jing Ying; and more friends than can be listed. He was preceded in death by his parents

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.

A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. on Sept. 19, 2026, at 2801 F St., Bakersfield, with an early dinner to follow. In keeping with his spirit, the dress code will be casual."