Where is that Lion Buried Who Would Zip Around Winona Lake?

One of the more startling sights in Winona Lake in 1935 or 1936 was a sleek Chris-Craft speedboat towing a water ski board carrying a full-grown lion and its owner, who clasped the tow-rope and straddled the beast’s shoulders and back.
Paul Lowman, a Winona Lake resident “who had a penchant for doing the unusual,” was the owner of the lion, whose name was Jerry.
Lowman was known for riding a motorcycle — unusual in the 1930s — and for piloting airplanes, including an amphibian plane which he liked to land on Winona Lake in front of the Winona Hotel. He also had a water-skiing troupe that performed stunts on Winona Lake, and he owned the Tippecanoe Gardens dance hall on the south shore of Lake Tippecanoe.
Lowman and Jerry would zip around the lake on a wide board, pulled by the speedboat, with Lowman straddling the lion’s shoulders. The late Bruce Howe claimed to have ridden the board with Jerry, as well. Lowman often put Jerry on a leash and took him for long walks around Rainbow Point and the canal.
When Jerry died in 1938, Lowman obtained a second lion, named Jerry II, but this Jerry wouldn’t behave. He never learned to water ski. Several times he got loose in the town and terrorized local residents by crawling under their porches and extending himself to look in their windows, prowling about their lawns and gardens.
One time Jerry II got loose and rambled through the Eagle Arcade, which included a souvenir shop, small grocery, and several other establishments. He thoroughly trashed the building and then hid on the second floor, stubbornly refusing to emerge until he was finally coaxed out by his owner. Jerry II attacked Lowman one time, causing several serious injuries. Jerry II ended his career somewhere in the south, allegedly at an animal park near Cypress Gardens in Florida.
The third lion, Congo, was obtained in 1939 when he was a cub. He, too, never learned to water ski, but he was often seen around town with his owner and eventually grew to be about 500 pounds. All three lions were likely acquired from the Clyde Beatty Circus.
The 1939 Winona Schools Reunion newsletter carries this summary: “Paul Lowman’s lion got us in the papers this summer. His surf board riding old lion, Jerry I, died of pneumonia in the winter, so Jerry II was bought. But he feared the water, and refused to be trained.
“At the first attempt he shook off his chain, scampered along the lakeshore, taking refuge under a house, from which he was lured back into his cage. Next time, he brought his big paw down, severely clawing Paul. When Paul recovered, Jerry was put under an anesthetic and his claws were clipped.
“His final escapade came during Bible Conference, when he broke loose, dragging his rope, ran towards the park, and as a crowd gathered, dashed into the Arcade, jumped thro’ the screen to a table loaded with china. Policemen brought guns, the cage was drawn up, and finally Jerry pulled in. Then the order went out. No more surfboard training in the county.”
When Lowman wanted to move away from Winona Lake, he couldn’t take Congo with him, and he could find no one to whom to sell or give the lion. So he killed Congo in November of 1940 with a shot from a high-powered rifle. Nobody knows where he was buried, but some day, a resident will be digging up his garden and the skeleton will be found, thus solving the mystery.
Lowman died in the Orlando, Florida, area in 2002 at the age of 88.