Judge Joe W. Lowdermilk

Joe W. Lowdermilk, a native of Sullivan, graduated from Sullivan High School in 1928 and from the Indiana University Law School in 1934.  He was admitted to the Indiana Bar in July 1934. 

He practiced law in Sullivan County and was elected to two terms as Sullivan County Prosecutor, from 1943 to 1947.  He was elected to the Sullivan Circuit Court in 1954, and served on the court from 1955 until 1967.

Judge Lowdermilk was elected as a Republican to the Indiana Appellate Court in November 1968 and took his seat on January 1, 1969.  He was Chief Judge during the 1970 term. In 1971, under a new amendment to the Indiana Constitution, the Appellate Court became the Court of Appeals of Indiana, and in 1972, Judge Lowdermilk was retained on the court by election for a ten-year term.  He retired in 1979.

Following his retirement, he served the Sullivan Circuit Court on occasion as a Judge Pro Tempore.  He also operated a 566-acre stock and grain farm in Sullivan County.

Judge Lowdermilk was a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, president of the Indiana Judges Association, and president of the Sullivan County Bar Association.  He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Elks Lodge, and the First Presbyterian Church in Sullivan.  He was awarded a Sagamore of the Wabash.

He died on August 18, 1982, when the tractor he was using to mow weeds at his sister’s farm struck a hole, knocking him under a wheel of the vehicle.  He was survived by his wife Gladys Usrey Pinkston and three sons, James, Jon and Joe.

View the In Memoriam obituary for Judge Joe W. Lowdermilk
3 pages | 123 kb