A Farewell to Solo — Remembering Solomon Fairbairn

By Marlon Bute
— A personal reflection on friendship, family, and the specialness of Lowman’s Hill —

I have just heard the sad news of the passing of yet another Lowman’s Hill resident. Solomon Fairbairn has succumbed to cancer. The last time I saw him was in August this year, just outside his house, near that iconic hill we called the Rock. Solo was walking on the flat above the Rock with a two-wheeled walker — exercising, or more appropriately, fighting back his illness.

I had stopped my car to chat, as I always do with my fellow villagers — the ones I grew up with. I said to him, “I see you’re exercising.” He smiled and replied, “Boy, you have to do something.” That was Solo — calm, grounded, and quietly determined.

Solo was one of the older boys, a good ten years or so my senior. As a teenager and a man, he was always active. He lived a balanced life, going to school by day and farming in the evenings. He came from a hardworking, God-fearing family. I