Lowell Fey’s Obituary

Lowell with his children. Carol, Tom, Nancy and David., Palmyra Nebraska. 2011

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R Lowell Fey, PhD, age 99 of Nebraska City, NE passed away on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at Morton Place in Nebraska City, NE.

R Lowell Fey was born on June 11, 1926 in rural Unadilla, NE; the son of Louis Ralph and Nora Elizabeth (Rodaway) Fey.  He graduated from Unadilla High School with the Class of 1943.

He attended Nebraska Wesleyan College until entering the U.S. Navy in 1944. He specialized in the new technology of radar until his honorable discharge on July 4, 1946.  Following his service, he returned to Nebraska Wesleyan, obtaining his Physics Degree in 1948.  Lowell worked in Washington D.C. at the Naval Research Laboratory, then at the National Bureau of Standards, moving to the new NBS Labs in Boulder, CO in 1956.  At these institutions he worked on developing the Atomic Clock. In the 1960s, he worked in conjunction with NASA coordinating time signals between satellite tracking stations in support of the Apollo space program. In 1968, he took his family to Braunschweig, West Germany where he had arranged a one-year work exchange. He retired in 1973.

Lowell had a thirst for learning, studying at Colorado State University where he received a Master’s in Agronomy, and later at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he received his Ph.D. in Geography. He was an active member of the Unitarian Fellowship and worked with the Boulder-Jalapa Friendship City Project. He was a man ahead of his time; in the 1960s he started an organic farm called Stonebridge Farm near Lyons, CO and was a founder of the Boulder Farmers Market.

He married Arvilla Mae Lange on April 26, 1950 in Western, NE and they shared 54 years together before her passing in November of 2004.

In 1997, Lowell and Arvilla moved to Nebraska City where he was very active in the community.  He was a Board Member for the Center of Rural Affairs, belonged to Nebraskans for Peace, and played trombone in the Southeast Nebraska Community Band. He also was a patron of the Brownville Concert Series, Brownville, NE. Lowell loved to travel and visited many countries around the world.

Those left to cherish his memory include his children:  Nancy E. Fey of Denver, CO, Thomas S. Fey of Monroe, WI, Carol F. Chatfield of Boulder, CO and David L. Fey of Lakewood, CO; three grandchildren; Molly Prince of Denver, CO, Abbie Prince of Denver, CO and Miranda Chatfield of Denver, Co, and two great-grandchildren. He had many good friends in the Nebraska City area; Jan Wright, Janet Palmtag, and Tim and Linda Engel were especially devoted.

Lowell was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, and brother and sister-in-law Robert and Barb Fey.

A Memorial Service to celebrate his life will be held at a later time.  He will be laid to rest at Plainview Cemetery at Western, NE next to his late wife Arvilla.