Terry Roy Fowler was born on March 18, 1943 to Donald and Betty Fowler in Watertown, New York. He had an older brother Bruce and younger brother Ric and younger sister Linda. They spent their summers at the family cabin at Knobby Knoll on Lake Ontario. Knobby Knoll is where so many memories were made over the years.
Upon graduating from Watertown High School, knowing that he wanted a military career in the United States Air Force, he applied for and was accepted to The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. The Citadel is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States.
While a cadet at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Mr. Fowler was a member of Charlie Company of the First Battalion. He held cadet rank of Corporal and Staff Sergeant from 1962-1964. In 1964-1965, his senior year, he was a cadet private. He was graduated in May 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He was an Air Force contract cadet and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force May 29, 1965. He attended The Citadel from his home town of Waterford, New York. He was a member of several school organizations including the Bond Volunteers, the Summerall Guards, Cadet Chorale, Protestant Choir, SAME (Society of American Military Engineers), the Mathematics Society, the Gymnastics Club and he was a Summer Camp Counselor. (Source: The 1965 Citadel SPHINX (yearbook), q.v. "Terry Roy Fowler," and The Citadel Alumni Association (CAA) online directory accessed July, 15, 2020.)
He spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a navigator on the KC-135 air refueling plane. First, he completed his navigator training at Mather Air Force Base (AFB), California. Then, he was assigned to the 42nd Air Refueling Squadron at Loring AFB, Maine. In 1968, during the Vietnam War, he deployed to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand for a year. Over his career, Terry was assigned to Castle AFB, California as an instructor navigator, Mather AFB, California as a squadron evaluator in the 904th Air Refueling Squadron, and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as a major command evaluator in the 1st Combat Evaluation Group (CEVG).
After Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, Terry went back to Mather AFB where he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and became the Operations Officer for the 904th Air Refueling Squadron. Soon after, he achieved his goal of becoming the Squadron Commander of the 904th. Finally, he finished out his career at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, as a member of the Strategic Air Command's Joint Targeting Staff and as the project manager for the Air Force's Proof of Concept Experimental Test Bed.
Upon retirement from the Air Force in 1992, Terry began another career. He worked as a contractor for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He took his job with the EPA near as serious as his Air Force career. He was part of the Space Shuttle Columbia clean-up team in Texas. He was proud to be selected to this team. He located and logged GPS coordinates of debris and remains near Nacogdoches, Texas. He also was called to help with clean up in New Orleans for hurricane Katrina. In both careers with the Air Force and EPA, he proudly served our country to keep it safe.
Moreover, Terry loved life to its fullest. He was the happiest wherever he could serve others. He served the homeless in Tacoma for many years. He would take them cases of water and Little Debbie cookies to give out. Needless to say, they loved him. He loved his job as an usher at church; he did this for many years. As with most tasks, he was told he was the best. Terry was a praying man, always asking if someone needed prayer; and was always faithful to pray for them.
Terry loved any kind of sport, but racquetball was his number one for most of his life. He won many state championship tournaments and the United States Western Regional Tournament in racquetball. After these wins, he had offers to go professional. He also loved his golf, especially the years he spent playing with the Baltray boys (Ted Johnson, Ed Koski, and Andrew King). They had quite the thing going. They even had an end of the year green jacket for winner of the season.
Terry enjoyed camping and fishing. His fishing trips to the Mokelumne River located in the mountains of California with the boys were the best.
Terry, ever the adventurer, traveled to many different places. It was a joy for him. They visited a daughter in Spain; they made a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal for his son Stephen; they made a pilgrimage to Israel to see the Holy Land; they saw a lot of the United States, which included class reunions every five years at his beloved Citadel. He and Susan took a trip to see one of the kids at least once a year, and that was always a favorite.
Proud moments for Terry were the births of his three boys, especially the birth of his youngest, Christopher (Bunkie), who was born prematurely at 4 lbs., 3.oz. Terry always called him his miracle baby. As his boys got older, he ended up crisscrossing the country to see his oldest, David, sworn into the U.S. Air Force as a flight crew member and, a few years later, graduate from the Sacramento Fire Department Academy. He attended football games at Sacramento State University where his second oldest, Stephen, played on a scholarship as an inside linebacker. He also saw his youngest, Christopher, play varsity football during his high school years. If that is not enough, Terry traveled to North Dakota, Nebraska, California, and, of course, Washington to watch any sporting event played by the grandkids.
Dancing is how Terry and Susan met. They pretty much danced every chance they got, including right into marriage on June 15, 1996. Terry always referred to Susan as "his bride" their entire marriage. They became a blended family of seven children, 19 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. The oldest to youngest are David, Stephen, Dawn, Tom, Christopher, Jill and Steven. Terry loved Dawn, Tom, Jill and Steven as his own. He never referred to them as stepchildren; he always claimed them as his children.
Some of Terry's favorite colors are: Nebraska-Red, Washington-Purple, Seahawk-Green/Blue and Syracuse-Orange. His favorite candy was M&Ms with peanuts, and he could eat the "whole big bag." Isn't that right Steve? The kids all knew what dad liked, so they always sent him a big bag of M&Ms for birthdays and holidays. Not to be outdone, Terry was also a voracious vanilla ice cream connoisseur sometimes we would scoop what we wanted from the carton and then handed him the rest of the carton with a spoon!
On June 29th, at the Washington Veterans Home-Retsil in Port Orchard, Terry Fowler went home to be with the Lord. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Betty, his brother Ric, his sister-in-law, Judy, Ric's wife, and his sister-in-law Stephanie Hack, Susan's sister.
He is survived by his wife Susan, his brother Bruce (Vicki), his sister Linda, and his children: David (Tracy), Dawn (Christopher), Stephen (Terri), Thomas (Mandy), Christopher (Missy), Jill (Jerry), Steven (Marlenia), as well as his grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends. He will always be remembered and greatly loved by those who knew him, especially his family.
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What Others Said About Terry Fowler…
"So sorry for your loss. I saw the news on the CRCC face book page. Hope that during these difficult days you can see blessings from God and have comfort that only He can give you." - Melissa (& Eric) Lundquist ~ Melissa - July 25, 2020
"Terry is the main character in stories that I have told my children over the years. Terry and I went our separate ways after high school so I did not know him as an officer in the Air Force or in his retired years out West. I do remember him as an accomplished athlete and the kid I considered my best friend while we were growing up. He used to shoot rats with me at the city dump in our little upstate New York town, and go skiing with me on cold subzero winter nights. We would get home from school, eat dinner and walk the two miles in the dark and snow to ski and then back home again when it closed for the evening. He helped make those some of the best years of a kid's life. I remember him for all those good times." ~ Rick Outwater -- July 19, 2020
Green Candle ~ "Terry was such a nice fellow and neighbor at knobby knoll when we were 7 and 8 mom was pregnant with Shar so Bett and I had to take the laundry down to the lake and wash it. The buckets were so heavy and many times if Terry was coming in from the lake he would just grab them and take them up for us. He was our hero. ... Loved having the Fowlers next door to us. Mrs. Fowler was so kind and Ric was a friend too. Linda was our knobby knoll sis. Bruce was a lot older than we were so didn't pay much attention to us and Mr. Fowler was working a lot. I remember Rick and Terry blindfolded us and turned us in circles and then took us out behind the horseshoe pits and showed us their homemade tree house. Then blindfolded us and turned us in circles and marched us back. Many years later when as adults were all at kk the trees were bare of leaves and it looked out that way and saw a few old boards still crookedly hanging on and I don't think they took us more then 40 feet. lol. Bless Terry and his family as we will always have fond memories and know he and Ric are together in heaven catching up and laughing." ~ Kathy -- July 19, 2020
Yellow Candle ~ "When his sister, Linda and I were young, I watched Terry be an awesome big brother! He always had time to talk to her and help her out! Terry used to come to all our Kool-Aid stands and buy a couple cups and always overpay!" ~ Bettyrose -- July 19, 2020
"Another story comes to mind. We had the cottage at Knobby Knoll next to Fowler's. My sister, Kathy who was 10 years old and me only 9 years old used to take our little sister and brother's diapers to the lake to wash them. We would do our best to wring them out, but the bucket of diapers were extremely heavy to carry up the ride away hill! On this one day as the two of us were struggling to carry the pail Terry came up beside us and said, "Let me get that!" We not only thought he was the cutest man we ever saw! But thought he was as strong as Atlas!!! He was 15 years old!!" ~ Bettyrose - July 19, 2020
Blue Candle-- Bettyrose lit a candle in memory of Terry Roy Fowler -- July 19, 2020.
"Terry was a great man and I will treasure the memories of his friendship. My deepest condolences to Susan and family. The Celebration of Life tribute was beautiful and exemplified Terry's life of service to all. He will be greatly missed." ~ Dolores Eugenia Montgomery -- July 18, 2020
SH! ~ It was a great gift to have known and worked with Terry. He was a very special person, he loved his job with passion and took his work very serious. He was a good friend and will be deeply missed. Thoughts and prayers go out to you Susan and your family. God Bless. ~ Sharyl Hill - July 18, 2020
"We are very grateful to have known Terry as a co-worker at the lab for many years and as a good friend. We have some great memories. He will be missed by all. Deepest condolences to Susan and family." ~ The ESAT crew and Dave & Jackie Dobb. -- July 18, 2020
"Remember Terry and Susan's wedding and meeting all the family. I worked with Terry at EPA and was a friend. Our best memories of when we went camping. Sending hugs to Susan and family." -- Peggy and Laura Jensen Mooring -- July 15, 2020
"We are so grateful to have known Terry. His life is a great example for all to follow. Our deepest sympathies to all of you and sending hugs of comfort your way." -- Debbie Doll -- July 11, 2020
"Such an honorable man, great husband & American Serviceman. I know you are all going to miss Terry so much. A Life Well Lived. Be Well." ~ Janis Gibbard - July 11, 2020
"Terry was always warm, friendly, and welcoming towards me! It's obvious his love for Susan and her's for him :) Hope you feel Jesus's love for you amidst this great grief." ~ Brittany Anderson
"Susan & family, So sorry to read of Terry's passing. What a wonderful, rich, fulfilling life he lived! May you all cherish the many, many fond memories. Hugs, Cindy." -- Cindy & Larry - July 10, 2020
Upon graduating from Watertown High School, knowing that he wanted a military career in the United States Air Force, he applied for and was accepted to The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. The Citadel is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States.
While a cadet at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Mr. Fowler was a member of Charlie Company of the First Battalion. He held cadet rank of Corporal and Staff Sergeant from 1962-1964. In 1964-1965, his senior year, he was a cadet private. He was graduated in May 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He was an Air Force contract cadet and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force May 29, 1965. He attended The Citadel from his home town of Waterford, New York. He was a member of several school organizations including the Bond Volunteers, the Summerall Guards, Cadet Chorale, Protestant Choir, SAME (Society of American Military Engineers), the Mathematics Society, the Gymnastics Club and he was a Summer Camp Counselor. (Source: The 1965 Citadel SPHINX (yearbook), q.v. "Terry Roy Fowler," and The Citadel Alumni Association (CAA) online directory accessed July, 15, 2020.)
He spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a navigator on the KC-135 air refueling plane. First, he completed his navigator training at Mather Air Force Base (AFB), California. Then, he was assigned to the 42nd Air Refueling Squadron at Loring AFB, Maine. In 1968, during the Vietnam War, he deployed to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand for a year. Over his career, Terry was assigned to Castle AFB, California as an instructor navigator, Mather AFB, California as a squadron evaluator in the 904th Air Refueling Squadron, and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as a major command evaluator in the 1st Combat Evaluation Group (CEVG).
After Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, Terry went back to Mather AFB where he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and became the Operations Officer for the 904th Air Refueling Squadron. Soon after, he achieved his goal of becoming the Squadron Commander of the 904th. Finally, he finished out his career at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, as a member of the Strategic Air Command's Joint Targeting Staff and as the project manager for the Air Force's Proof of Concept Experimental Test Bed.
Upon retirement from the Air Force in 1992, Terry began another career. He worked as a contractor for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He took his job with the EPA near as serious as his Air Force career. He was part of the Space Shuttle Columbia clean-up team in Texas. He was proud to be selected to this team. He located and logged GPS coordinates of debris and remains near Nacogdoches, Texas. He also was called to help with clean up in New Orleans for hurricane Katrina. In both careers with the Air Force and EPA, he proudly served our country to keep it safe.
Moreover, Terry loved life to its fullest. He was the happiest wherever he could serve others. He served the homeless in Tacoma for many years. He would take them cases of water and Little Debbie cookies to give out. Needless to say, they loved him. He loved his job as an usher at church; he did this for many years. As with most tasks, he was told he was the best. Terry was a praying man, always asking if someone needed prayer; and was always faithful to pray for them.
Terry loved any kind of sport, but racquetball was his number one for most of his life. He won many state championship tournaments and the United States Western Regional Tournament in racquetball. After these wins, he had offers to go professional. He also loved his golf, especially the years he spent playing with the Baltray boys (Ted Johnson, Ed Koski, and Andrew King). They had quite the thing going. They even had an end of the year green jacket for winner of the season.
Terry enjoyed camping and fishing. His fishing trips to the Mokelumne River located in the mountains of California with the boys were the best.
Terry, ever the adventurer, traveled to many different places. It was a joy for him. They visited a daughter in Spain; they made a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal for his son Stephen; they made a pilgrimage to Israel to see the Holy Land; they saw a lot of the United States, which included class reunions every five years at his beloved Citadel. He and Susan took a trip to see one of the kids at least once a year, and that was always a favorite.
Proud moments for Terry were the births of his three boys, especially the birth of his youngest, Christopher (Bunkie), who was born prematurely at 4 lbs., 3.oz. Terry always called him his miracle baby. As his boys got older, he ended up crisscrossing the country to see his oldest, David, sworn into the U.S. Air Force as a flight crew member and, a few years later, graduate from the Sacramento Fire Department Academy. He attended football games at Sacramento State University where his second oldest, Stephen, played on a scholarship as an inside linebacker. He also saw his youngest, Christopher, play varsity football during his high school years. If that is not enough, Terry traveled to North Dakota, Nebraska, California, and, of course, Washington to watch any sporting event played by the grandkids.
Dancing is how Terry and Susan met. They pretty much danced every chance they got, including right into marriage on June 15, 1996. Terry always referred to Susan as "his bride" their entire marriage. They became a blended family of seven children, 19 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. The oldest to youngest are David, Stephen, Dawn, Tom, Christopher, Jill and Steven. Terry loved Dawn, Tom, Jill and Steven as his own. He never referred to them as stepchildren; he always claimed them as his children.
Some of Terry's favorite colors are: Nebraska-Red, Washington-Purple, Seahawk-Green/Blue and Syracuse-Orange. His favorite candy was M&Ms with peanuts, and he could eat the "whole big bag." Isn't that right Steve? The kids all knew what dad liked, so they always sent him a big bag of M&Ms for birthdays and holidays. Not to be outdone, Terry was also a voracious vanilla ice cream connoisseur sometimes we would scoop what we wanted from the carton and then handed him the rest of the carton with a spoon!
On June 29th, at the Washington Veterans Home-Retsil in Port Orchard, Terry Fowler went home to be with the Lord. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Betty, his brother Ric, his sister-in-law, Judy, Ric's wife, and his sister-in-law Stephanie Hack, Susan's sister.
He is survived by his wife Susan, his brother Bruce (Vicki), his sister Linda, and his children: David (Tracy), Dawn (Christopher), Stephen (Terri), Thomas (Mandy), Christopher (Missy), Jill (Jerry), Steven (Marlenia), as well as his grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends. He will always be remembered and greatly loved by those who knew him, especially his family.
========================================================================
What Others Said About Terry Fowler…
"So sorry for your loss. I saw the news on the CRCC face book page. Hope that during these difficult days you can see blessings from God and have comfort that only He can give you." - Melissa (& Eric) Lundquist ~ Melissa - July 25, 2020
"Terry is the main character in stories that I have told my children over the years. Terry and I went our separate ways after high school so I did not know him as an officer in the Air Force or in his retired years out West. I do remember him as an accomplished athlete and the kid I considered my best friend while we were growing up. He used to shoot rats with me at the city dump in our little upstate New York town, and go skiing with me on cold subzero winter nights. We would get home from school, eat dinner and walk the two miles in the dark and snow to ski and then back home again when it closed for the evening. He helped make those some of the best years of a kid's life. I remember him for all those good times." ~ Rick Outwater -- July 19, 2020
Green Candle ~ "Terry was such a nice fellow and neighbor at knobby knoll when we were 7 and 8 mom was pregnant with Shar so Bett and I had to take the laundry down to the lake and wash it. The buckets were so heavy and many times if Terry was coming in from the lake he would just grab them and take them up for us. He was our hero. ... Loved having the Fowlers next door to us. Mrs. Fowler was so kind and Ric was a friend too. Linda was our knobby knoll sis. Bruce was a lot older than we were so didn't pay much attention to us and Mr. Fowler was working a lot. I remember Rick and Terry blindfolded us and turned us in circles and then took us out behind the horseshoe pits and showed us their homemade tree house. Then blindfolded us and turned us in circles and marched us back. Many years later when as adults were all at kk the trees were bare of leaves and it looked out that way and saw a few old boards still crookedly hanging on and I don't think they took us more then 40 feet. lol. Bless Terry and his family as we will always have fond memories and know he and Ric are together in heaven catching up and laughing." ~ Kathy -- July 19, 2020
Yellow Candle ~ "When his sister, Linda and I were young, I watched Terry be an awesome big brother! He always had time to talk to her and help her out! Terry used to come to all our Kool-Aid stands and buy a couple cups and always overpay!" ~ Bettyrose -- July 19, 2020
"Another story comes to mind. We had the cottage at Knobby Knoll next to Fowler's. My sister, Kathy who was 10 years old and me only 9 years old used to take our little sister and brother's diapers to the lake to wash them. We would do our best to wring them out, but the bucket of diapers were extremely heavy to carry up the ride away hill! On this one day as the two of us were struggling to carry the pail Terry came up beside us and said, "Let me get that!" We not only thought he was the cutest man we ever saw! But thought he was as strong as Atlas!!! He was 15 years old!!" ~ Bettyrose - July 19, 2020
Blue Candle-- Bettyrose lit a candle in memory of Terry Roy Fowler -- July 19, 2020.
"Terry was a great man and I will treasure the memories of his friendship. My deepest condolences to Susan and family. The Celebration of Life tribute was beautiful and exemplified Terry's life of service to all. He will be greatly missed." ~ Dolores Eugenia Montgomery -- July 18, 2020
SH! ~ It was a great gift to have known and worked with Terry. He was a very special person, he loved his job with passion and took his work very serious. He was a good friend and will be deeply missed. Thoughts and prayers go out to you Susan and your family. God Bless. ~ Sharyl Hill - July 18, 2020
"We are very grateful to have known Terry as a co-worker at the lab for many years and as a good friend. We have some great memories. He will be missed by all. Deepest condolences to Susan and family." ~ The ESAT crew and Dave & Jackie Dobb. -- July 18, 2020
"Remember Terry and Susan's wedding and meeting all the family. I worked with Terry at EPA and was a friend. Our best memories of when we went camping. Sending hugs to Susan and family." -- Peggy and Laura Jensen Mooring -- July 15, 2020
"We are so grateful to have known Terry. His life is a great example for all to follow. Our deepest sympathies to all of you and sending hugs of comfort your way." -- Debbie Doll -- July 11, 2020
"Such an honorable man, great husband & American Serviceman. I know you are all going to miss Terry so much. A Life Well Lived. Be Well." ~ Janis Gibbard - July 11, 2020
"Terry was always warm, friendly, and welcoming towards me! It's obvious his love for Susan and her's for him :) Hope you feel Jesus's love for you amidst this great grief." ~ Brittany Anderson
"Susan & family, So sorry to read of Terry's passing. What a wonderful, rich, fulfilling life he lived! May you all cherish the many, many fond memories. Hugs, Cindy." -- Cindy & Larry - July 10, 2020
Terry Roy Fowler was born on March 18, 1943 to Donald and Betty Fowler in Watertown, New York. He had an older brother Bruce and younger brother Ric and younger sister Linda. They spent their summers at the family cabin at Knobby Knoll on Lake Ontario. Knobby Knoll is where so many memories were made over the years.
Upon graduating from Watertown High School, knowing that he wanted a military career in the United States Air Force, he applied for and was accepted to The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. The Citadel is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States.
While a cadet at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Mr. Fowler was a member of Charlie Company of the First Battalion. He held cadet rank of Corporal and Staff Sergeant from 1962-1964. In 1964-1965, his senior year, he was a cadet private. He was graduated in May 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He was an Air Force contract cadet and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force May 29, 1965. He attended The Citadel from his home town of Waterford, New York. He was a member of several school organizations including the Bond Volunteers, the Summerall Guards, Cadet Chorale, Protestant Choir, SAME (Society of American Military Engineers), the Mathematics Society, the Gymnastics Club and he was a Summer Camp Counselor. (Source: The 1965 Citadel SPHINX (yearbook), q.v. "Terry Roy Fowler," and The Citadel Alumni Association (CAA) online directory accessed July, 15, 2020.)
He spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a navigator on the KC-135 air refueling plane. First, he completed his navigator training at Mather Air Force Base (AFB), California. Then, he was assigned to the 42nd Air Refueling Squadron at Loring AFB, Maine. In 1968, during the Vietnam War, he deployed to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand for a year. Over his career, Terry was assigned to Castle AFB, California as an instructor navigator, Mather AFB, California as a squadron evaluator in the 904th Air Refueling Squadron, and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as a major command evaluator in the 1st Combat Evaluation Group (CEVG).
After Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, Terry went back to Mather AFB where he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and became the Operations Officer for the 904th Air Refueling Squadron. Soon after, he achieved his goal of becoming the Squadron Commander of the 904th. Finally, he finished out his career at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, as a member of the Strategic Air Command's Joint Targeting Staff and as the project manager for the Air Force's Proof of Concept Experimental Test Bed.
Upon retirement from the Air Force in 1992, Terry began another career. He worked as a contractor for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He took his job with the EPA near as serious as his Air Force career. He was part of the Space Shuttle Columbia clean-up team in Texas. He was proud to be selected to this team. He located and logged GPS coordinates of debris and remains near Nacogdoches, Texas. He also was called to help with clean up in New Orleans for hurricane Katrina. In both careers with the Air Force and EPA, he proudly served our country to keep it safe.
Moreover, Terry loved life to its fullest. He was the happiest wherever he could serve others. He served the homeless in Tacoma for many years. He would take them cases of water and Little Debbie cookies to give out. Needless to say, they loved him. He loved his job as an usher at church; he did this for many years. As with most tasks, he was told he was the best. Terry was a praying man, always asking if someone needed prayer; and was always faithful to pray for them.
Terry loved any kind of sport, but racquetball was his number one for most of his life. He won many state championship tournaments and the United States Western Regional Tournament in racquetball. After these wins, he had offers to go professional. He also loved his golf, especially the years he spent playing with the Baltray boys (Ted Johnson, Ed Koski, and Andrew King). They had quite the thing going. They even had an end of the year green jacket for winner of the season.
Terry enjoyed camping and fishing. His fishing trips to the Mokelumne River located in the mountains of California with the boys were the best.
Terry, ever the adventurer, traveled to many different places. It was a joy for him. They visited a daughter in Spain; they made a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal for his son Stephen; they made a pilgrimage to Israel to see the Holy Land; they saw a lot of the United States, which included class reunions every five years at his beloved Citadel. He and Susan took a trip to see one of the kids at least once a year, and that was always a favorite.
Proud moments for Terry were the births of his three boys, especially the birth of his youngest, Christopher (Bunkie), who was born prematurely at 4 lbs., 3.oz. Terry always called him his miracle baby. As his boys got older, he ended up crisscrossing the country to see his oldest, David, sworn into the U.S. Air Force as a flight crew member and, a few years later, graduate from the Sacramento Fire Department Academy. He attended football games at Sacramento State University where his second oldest, Stephen, played on a scholarship as an inside linebacker. He also saw his youngest, Christopher, play varsity football during his high school years. If that is not enough, Terry traveled to North Dakota, Nebraska, California, and, of course, Washington to watch any sporting event played by the grandkids.
Dancing is how Terry and Susan met. They pretty much danced every chance they got, including right into marriage on June 15, 1996. Terry always referred to Susan as "his bride" their entire marriage. They became a blended family of seven children, 19 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. The oldest to youngest are David, Stephen, Dawn, Tom, Christopher, Jill and Steven. Terry loved Dawn, Tom, Jill and Steven as his own. He never referred to them as stepchildren; he always claimed them as his children.
Some of Terry's favorite colors are: Nebraska-Red, Washington-Purple, Seahawk-Green/Blue and Syracuse-Orange. His favorite candy was M&Ms with peanuts, and he could eat the "whole big bag." Isn't that right Steve? The kids all knew what dad liked, so they always sent him a big bag of M&Ms for birthdays and holidays. Not to be outdone, Terry was also a voracious vanilla ice cream connoisseur sometimes we would scoop what we wanted from the carton and then handed him the rest of the carton with a spoon!
On June 29th, at the Washington Veterans Home-Retsil in Port Orchard, Terry Fowler went home to be with the Lord. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Betty, his brother Ric, his sister-in-law, Judy, Ric's wife, and his sister-in-law Stephanie Hack, Susan's sister.
He is survived by his wife Susan, his brother Bruce (Vicki), his sister Linda, and his children: David (Tracy), Dawn (Christopher), Stephen (Terri), Thomas (Mandy), Christopher (Missy), Jill (Jerry), Steven (Marlenia), as well as his grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends. He will always be remembered and greatly loved by those who knew him, especially his family.
========================================================================
What Others Said About Terry Fowler…
"So sorry for your loss. I saw the news on the CRCC face book page. Hope that during these difficult days you can see blessings from God and have comfort that only He can give you." - Melissa (& Eric) Lundquist ~ Melissa - July 25, 2020
"Terry is the main character in stories that I have told my children over the years. Terry and I went our separate ways after high school so I did not know him as an officer in the Air Force or in his retired years out West. I do remember him as an accomplished athlete and the kid I considered my best friend while we were growing up. He used to shoot rats with me at the city dump in our little upstate New York town, and go skiing with me on cold subzero winter nights. We would get home from school, eat dinner and walk the two miles in the dark and snow to ski and then back home again when it closed for the evening. He helped make those some of the best years of a kid's life. I remember him for all those good times." ~ Rick Outwater -- July 19, 2020
Green Candle ~ "Terry was such a nice fellow and neighbor at knobby knoll when we were 7 and 8 mom was pregnant with Shar so Bett and I had to take the laundry down to the lake and wash it. The buckets were so heavy and many times if Terry was coming in from the lake he would just grab them and take them up for us. He was our hero. ... Loved having the Fowlers next door to us. Mrs. Fowler was so kind and Ric was a friend too. Linda was our knobby knoll sis. Bruce was a lot older than we were so didn't pay much attention to us and Mr. Fowler was working a lot. I remember Rick and Terry blindfolded us and turned us in circles and then took us out behind the horseshoe pits and showed us their homemade tree house. Then blindfolded us and turned us in circles and marched us back. Many years later when as adults were all at kk the trees were bare of leaves and it looked out that way and saw a few old boards still crookedly hanging on and I don't think they took us more then 40 feet. lol. Bless Terry and his family as we will always have fond memories and know he and Ric are together in heaven catching up and laughing." ~ Kathy -- July 19, 2020
Yellow Candle ~ "When his sister, Linda and I were young, I watched Terry be an awesome big brother! He always had time to talk to her and help her out! Terry used to come to all our Kool-Aid stands and buy a couple cups and always overpay!" ~ Bettyrose -- July 19, 2020
"Another story comes to mind. We had the cottage at Knobby Knoll next to Fowler's. My sister, Kathy who was 10 years old and me only 9 years old used to take our little sister and brother's diapers to the lake to wash them. We would do our best to wring them out, but the bucket of diapers were extremely heavy to carry up the ride away hill! On this one day as the two of us were struggling to carry the pail Terry came up beside us and said, "Let me get that!" We not only thought he was the cutest man we ever saw! But thought he was as strong as Atlas!!! He was 15 years old!!" ~ Bettyrose - July 19, 2020
Blue Candle-- Bettyrose lit a candle in memory of Terry Roy Fowler -- July 19, 2020.
"Terry was a great man and I will treasure the memories of his friendship. My deepest condolences to Susan and family. The Celebration of Life tribute was beautiful and exemplified Terry's life of service to all. He will be greatly missed." ~ Dolores Eugenia Montgomery -- July 18, 2020
SH! ~ It was a great gift to have known and worked with Terry. He was a very special person, he loved his job with passion and took his work very serious. He was a good friend and will be deeply missed. Thoughts and prayers go out to you Susan and your family. God Bless. ~ Sharyl Hill - July 18, 2020
"We are very grateful to have known Terry as a co-worker at the lab for many years and as a good friend. We have some great memories. He will be missed by all. Deepest condolences to Susan and family." ~ The ESAT crew and Dave & Jackie Dobb. -- July 18, 2020
"Remember Terry and Susan's wedding and meeting all the family. I worked with Terry at EPA and was a friend. Our best memories of when we went camping. Sending hugs to Susan and family." -- Peggy and Laura Jensen Mooring -- July 15, 2020
"We are so grateful to have known Terry. His life is a great example for all to follow. Our deepest sympathies to all of you and sending hugs of comfort your way." -- Debbie Doll -- July 11, 2020
"Such an honorable man, great husband & American Serviceman. I know you are all going to miss Terry so much. A Life Well Lived. Be Well." ~ Janis Gibbard - July 11, 2020
"Terry was always warm, friendly, and welcoming towards me! It's obvious his love for Susan and her's for him :) Hope you feel Jesus's love for you amidst this great grief." ~ Brittany Anderson
"Susan & family, So sorry to read of Terry's passing. What a wonderful, rich, fulfilling life he lived! May you all cherish the many, many fond memories. Hugs, Cindy." -- Cindy & Larry - July 10, 2020
Upon graduating from Watertown High School, knowing that he wanted a military career in the United States Air Force, he applied for and was accepted to The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. The Citadel is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States.
While a cadet at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Mr. Fowler was a member of Charlie Company of the First Battalion. He held cadet rank of Corporal and Staff Sergeant from 1962-1964. In 1964-1965, his senior year, he was a cadet private. He was graduated in May 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He was an Air Force contract cadet and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force May 29, 1965. He attended The Citadel from his home town of Waterford, New York. He was a member of several school organizations including the Bond Volunteers, the Summerall Guards, Cadet Chorale, Protestant Choir, SAME (Society of American Military Engineers), the Mathematics Society, the Gymnastics Club and he was a Summer Camp Counselor. (Source: The 1965 Citadel SPHINX (yearbook), q.v. "Terry Roy Fowler," and The Citadel Alumni Association (CAA) online directory accessed July, 15, 2020.)
He spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a navigator on the KC-135 air refueling plane. First, he completed his navigator training at Mather Air Force Base (AFB), California. Then, he was assigned to the 42nd Air Refueling Squadron at Loring AFB, Maine. In 1968, during the Vietnam War, he deployed to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand for a year. Over his career, Terry was assigned to Castle AFB, California as an instructor navigator, Mather AFB, California as a squadron evaluator in the 904th Air Refueling Squadron, and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as a major command evaluator in the 1st Combat Evaluation Group (CEVG).
After Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, Terry went back to Mather AFB where he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and became the Operations Officer for the 904th Air Refueling Squadron. Soon after, he achieved his goal of becoming the Squadron Commander of the 904th. Finally, he finished out his career at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, as a member of the Strategic Air Command's Joint Targeting Staff and as the project manager for the Air Force's Proof of Concept Experimental Test Bed.
Upon retirement from the Air Force in 1992, Terry began another career. He worked as a contractor for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He took his job with the EPA near as serious as his Air Force career. He was part of the Space Shuttle Columbia clean-up team in Texas. He was proud to be selected to this team. He located and logged GPS coordinates of debris and remains near Nacogdoches, Texas. He also was called to help with clean up in New Orleans for hurricane Katrina. In both careers with the Air Force and EPA, he proudly served our country to keep it safe.
Moreover, Terry loved life to its fullest. He was the happiest wherever he could serve others. He served the homeless in Tacoma for many years. He would take them cases of water and Little Debbie cookies to give out. Needless to say, they loved him. He loved his job as an usher at church; he did this for many years. As with most tasks, he was told he was the best. Terry was a praying man, always asking if someone needed prayer; and was always faithful to pray for them.
Terry loved any kind of sport, but racquetball was his number one for most of his life. He won many state championship tournaments and the United States Western Regional Tournament in racquetball. After these wins, he had offers to go professional. He also loved his golf, especially the years he spent playing with the Baltray boys (Ted Johnson, Ed Koski, and Andrew King). They had quite the thing going. They even had an end of the year green jacket for winner of the season.
Terry enjoyed camping and fishing. His fishing trips to the Mokelumne River located in the mountains of California with the boys were the best.
Terry, ever the adventurer, traveled to many different places. It was a joy for him. They visited a daughter in Spain; they made a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal for his son Stephen; they made a pilgrimage to Israel to see the Holy Land; they saw a lot of the United States, which included class reunions every five years at his beloved Citadel. He and Susan took a trip to see one of the kids at least once a year, and that was always a favorite.
Proud moments for Terry were the births of his three boys, especially the birth of his youngest, Christopher (Bunkie), who was born prematurely at 4 lbs., 3.oz. Terry always called him his miracle baby. As his boys got older, he ended up crisscrossing the country to see his oldest, David, sworn into the U.S. Air Force as a flight crew member and, a few years later, graduate from the Sacramento Fire Department Academy. He attended football games at Sacramento State University where his second oldest, Stephen, played on a scholarship as an inside linebacker. He also saw his youngest, Christopher, play varsity football during his high school years. If that is not enough, Terry traveled to North Dakota, Nebraska, California, and, of course, Washington to watch any sporting event played by the grandkids.
Dancing is how Terry and Susan met. They pretty much danced every chance they got, including right into marriage on June 15, 1996. Terry always referred to Susan as "his bride" their entire marriage. They became a blended family of seven children, 19 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. The oldest to youngest are David, Stephen, Dawn, Tom, Christopher, Jill and Steven. Terry loved Dawn, Tom, Jill and Steven as his own. He never referred to them as stepchildren; he always claimed them as his children.
Some of Terry's favorite colors are: Nebraska-Red, Washington-Purple, Seahawk-Green/Blue and Syracuse-Orange. His favorite candy was M&Ms with peanuts, and he could eat the "whole big bag." Isn't that right Steve? The kids all knew what dad liked, so they always sent him a big bag of M&Ms for birthdays and holidays. Not to be outdone, Terry was also a voracious vanilla ice cream connoisseur sometimes we would scoop what we wanted from the carton and then handed him the rest of the carton with a spoon!
On June 29th, at the Washington Veterans Home-Retsil in Port Orchard, Terry Fowler went home to be with the Lord. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Betty, his brother Ric, his sister-in-law, Judy, Ric's wife, and his sister-in-law Stephanie Hack, Susan's sister.
He is survived by his wife Susan, his brother Bruce (Vicki), his sister Linda, and his children: David (Tracy), Dawn (Christopher), Stephen (Terri), Thomas (Mandy), Christopher (Missy), Jill (Jerry), Steven (Marlenia), as well as his grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends. He will always be remembered and greatly loved by those who knew him, especially his family.
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What Others Said About Terry Fowler…
"So sorry for your loss. I saw the news on the CRCC face book page. Hope that during these difficult days you can see blessings from God and have comfort that only He can give you." - Melissa (& Eric) Lundquist ~ Melissa - July 25, 2020
"Terry is the main character in stories that I have told my children over the years. Terry and I went our separate ways after high school so I did not know him as an officer in the Air Force or in his retired years out West. I do remember him as an accomplished athlete and the kid I considered my best friend while we were growing up. He used to shoot rats with me at the city dump in our little upstate New York town, and go skiing with me on cold subzero winter nights. We would get home from school, eat dinner and walk the two miles in the dark and snow to ski and then back home again when it closed for the evening. He helped make those some of the best years of a kid's life. I remember him for all those good times." ~ Rick Outwater -- July 19, 2020
Green Candle ~ "Terry was such a nice fellow and neighbor at knobby knoll when we were 7 and 8 mom was pregnant with Shar so Bett and I had to take the laundry down to the lake and wash it. The buckets were so heavy and many times if Terry was coming in from the lake he would just grab them and take them up for us. He was our hero. ... Loved having the Fowlers next door to us. Mrs. Fowler was so kind and Ric was a friend too. Linda was our knobby knoll sis. Bruce was a lot older than we were so didn't pay much attention to us and Mr. Fowler was working a lot. I remember Rick and Terry blindfolded us and turned us in circles and then took us out behind the horseshoe pits and showed us their homemade tree house. Then blindfolded us and turned us in circles and marched us back. Many years later when as adults were all at kk the trees were bare of leaves and it looked out that way and saw a few old boards still crookedly hanging on and I don't think they took us more then 40 feet. lol. Bless Terry and his family as we will always have fond memories and know he and Ric are together in heaven catching up and laughing." ~ Kathy -- July 19, 2020
Yellow Candle ~ "When his sister, Linda and I were young, I watched Terry be an awesome big brother! He always had time to talk to her and help her out! Terry used to come to all our Kool-Aid stands and buy a couple cups and always overpay!" ~ Bettyrose -- July 19, 2020
"Another story comes to mind. We had the cottage at Knobby Knoll next to Fowler's. My sister, Kathy who was 10 years old and me only 9 years old used to take our little sister and brother's diapers to the lake to wash them. We would do our best to wring them out, but the bucket of diapers were extremely heavy to carry up the ride away hill! On this one day as the two of us were struggling to carry the pail Terry came up beside us and said, "Let me get that!" We not only thought he was the cutest man we ever saw! But thought he was as strong as Atlas!!! He was 15 years old!!" ~ Bettyrose - July 19, 2020
Blue Candle-- Bettyrose lit a candle in memory of Terry Roy Fowler -- July 19, 2020.
"Terry was a great man and I will treasure the memories of his friendship. My deepest condolences to Susan and family. The Celebration of Life tribute was beautiful and exemplified Terry's life of service to all. He will be greatly missed." ~ Dolores Eugenia Montgomery -- July 18, 2020
SH! ~ It was a great gift to have known and worked with Terry. He was a very special person, he loved his job with passion and took his work very serious. He was a good friend and will be deeply missed. Thoughts and prayers go out to you Susan and your family. God Bless. ~ Sharyl Hill - July 18, 2020
"We are very grateful to have known Terry as a co-worker at the lab for many years and as a good friend. We have some great memories. He will be missed by all. Deepest condolences to Susan and family." ~ The ESAT crew and Dave & Jackie Dobb. -- July 18, 2020
"Remember Terry and Susan's wedding and meeting all the family. I worked with Terry at EPA and was a friend. Our best memories of when we went camping. Sending hugs to Susan and family." -- Peggy and Laura Jensen Mooring -- July 15, 2020
"We are so grateful to have known Terry. His life is a great example for all to follow. Our deepest sympathies to all of you and sending hugs of comfort your way." -- Debbie Doll -- July 11, 2020
"Such an honorable man, great husband & American Serviceman. I know you are all going to miss Terry so much. A Life Well Lived. Be Well." ~ Janis Gibbard - July 11, 2020
"Terry was always warm, friendly, and welcoming towards me! It's obvious his love for Susan and her's for him :) Hope you feel Jesus's love for you amidst this great grief." ~ Brittany Anderson
"Susan & family, So sorry to read of Terry's passing. What a wonderful, rich, fulfilling life he lived! May you all cherish the many, many fond memories. Hugs, Cindy." -- Cindy & Larry - July 10, 2020
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