Christopher Paul Fowler, aged 70, passed away peacefully in the company of his family and friends at home in Derry, NH. He was born on November 13, 1953 in Watertown, NY, to Paul Ives Fowler and JoAnn Fowler, née Bowles. Due to his father’s military career as an Army major, the Fowlers moved about the world. Chris’s toddler years were spent in Germany, where his brother Matthew was born. The young Fowler family was blessed with the opportunity to make jaunts to neighboring European countries, which were the origins of many family stories, such as when Paul procured a gondola ride on Venice’s Grand Canal in exchange for a pack of American smokes, or how Chris’s tiny feet darted across the mosaic floors of the Pantheon in Rome and scuffed the sands of the Colosseum.
After his father’s military service in Virginia, Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts, Paul Fowler retired in 1963, and the Fowlers purchased a rambling cape on 13 Nesmith St. in the heart of old Derry Village in 1964. Chris attended Derry elementary and middle schools, mesmerizing his friends with his talents in building model rockets, which were launched in the football fields and back yards of Derry and Windham. Chris attended Pinkerton Academy, excelling in the sciences, particularly mathematics and physics. He also was a formidable competitor on the field in both football and lacrosse and was honored as an All-State athlete for his exemplary performance as a lacrosse goalie. He graduated in 1972, and attended the University of Lowell in Massachusetts, working toward a degree in mechanical engineering. He apparently became bored with the book work and quit college temporarily. He then worked for Rogers Foam Company in Somerville, MA, as he gained “hands-on experience” in engineering, alongside his dad, who had worked for years at Rogers Foam. Chris actually helped his dad, Paul Fowler, to design the mechanical die which allowed for mass production of the Parker Brothers “Nerf” Ball!
After several years working at Rogers Foam, his wanderlust and eternal desire for adventure again lured him away from the drudgery of the working world. He joined the United States Army in 1979. He was the distinguished boot camp graduate of his class, and received numerous awards and honors, including the Parachutist Badge, Expert Badges in the M-16 and Hand Grenades, the Army Service Badge, and the Aircraft Crewman Badge. Chris went on to become a paratrooper, a helicopter mechanic, and crew chief in the 82nd Airborne division, stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. He participated in no less than 53 jumps. During his years in the service, he developed many close friendships and earned the admiration and camaraderie of his fellow soldiers in F Company 82nd Combat Aviation Battalion (Airborne), many of whom featured in some of his favorite remembrances and anecdotes. He also earned a Jungle Expert Certification during a rigorous training process in Panama, whose stifling, dense, and dangerous jungles, with their toxic but beautiful flora and fauna, made a deep impression on him, and were also a source of some of the more vibrant stories of his military career. He was honorably discharged in 1982, and afterward served in the National Guard. Throughout his life, he would proudly show off the tattoo on his left arm, marking him forever as a US Army Paratrooper.
Chris married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Louise Fowler, née Wilson, on August 8, 1981, in Derry, NH., and then proceeded to move into his parents’ former residence at the now iconic 13 Nesmith St. Chris and Patricia rehabbed the old home into the site of many beautiful and unforgettable memories for themselves, their family, and their friends. During this time, Chris also went back to school and completed his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts – Lowell in mechanical engineering in 1995.
After eight years of marriage, Chris was finally blessed with his only son, Alexander John Fowler, who was the proverbial apple of his eye and center of his world. Despite being of a more scientific bent himself, Chris was always supportive of his son’s eclectic, eccentric interests and his decision to devote his life to the study of the humanities and the Classics, since they both shared a passion for ancient civilizations. He was an indulgent, forgiving, carefree, and gentle father to a son who strives to be worthy of him.
Chris worked for most of his life as a mechanical engineer, over the course of 33 years, for various defense contractors, including Sanders Associates, CISCO Systems, and BAE Systems, again winning many honors and his coworkers’ admiration as a talented and multidimensional engineering professional. He retired in 2017.
If you knew Chris Fowler, you would know that he was dubbed by many a “Renaissance man,” since he had so many interests, talents, and affinities. He notoriously courted danger—his favorite activities were shooting guns, jumping out of planes, or rappelling down sheer cliffs. He was an avid collector of knives and would always sport his current favorite, dangling from his beltloop with a shiny, purple carabiner clip. He had a lot of flair, and treasured his collection of hats, which he happily paired with knock-off designer shades.
Throughout his life, Chris was also the “go-to” person for everything from “what’s that constellation” to “can you fix my toilet?” He enjoyed educating people about ancient history, military tactics, the intricacies of astronomy and quantum mechanics, the abstract beauty of calculus, nautical lore and terminology, how to tie various useful knots, or how to discern the characteristics of different types of whales. The wages from his first odd jobs as a teenager, in fact, were saved up for a Celestron telescope. The remainder was given to the “Save the Whales” campaign.
Chris followed in his father’s footsteps and was a dedicated factotum, able to fix practically anything in the fields of carpentry, electric work, plumbing, or automotive repair. His hands were also talented enough to pursue the more delicate arts of drawing, origami, and building model ships in bottles. He became a juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, and was chosen as one of a select group of New Hampshire artisans to create an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree, under the administration of President Bill Clinton. The ornament was a model of one of his favorite ships, the revered USS Constitution, magically-assembled within a clear glass globe.
Chris was also an avid collector of rare coins, especially Roman and American, a hobby he inherited from his beloved grandfather, Carlton, and his uncle, John. He also collected the marvels of nature, including fossils, geodes, and nautilus shells, fascinated by their perfect mathematical beauty. Chris also enjoyed a broad range of cinema, from historical accounts to “shoot ‘em ups” to inane comedies. His favorites were Dr. Strangelove and Father Goose. He also relished museums and was most drawn to the halls featuring the Impressionist painters, ship models, and ancient Egyptian artifacts and statuary. Chris appreciated good single malt scotch, especially when paired with escargot or calamari. He completely gave his heart to two black Labradors that graced separate periods of his life, Kruger and Argos. An intellectual, an artist, a soldier, a mechanic, a stargazer, a mad scientist, and a selflessly-dedicated father, he was the hero of his son and a father figure to so many others.
It is difficult to encapsulate or measure in words a man so varied in his traits and talents. He was such a central thread in the fabric of his family and he is already unbearably missed. He was generous, brilliant, courageous, sometimes taciturn, sometimes bombastic, jovial, sardonic, and a raconteur who loved to regale us with his tales, tall or true. But most of all, he was a complex, loving, gifted human being. In his later years, as he battled with health issues, he proved to us all that he was up to any and every fight. Once, he was given a prognosis of six months to live, but he struggled and thrived for eight more years after that. During his most recent bout, he classically commented, “There’s no cowards in foxholes.”
Chris is survived by his wife, Patricia; his son, Alexander; an older brother, Nicholas, and his wife Dawna, of Manchester, NH.; a younger brother, Matthew, and his wife, Lorraine, of Fort Collins, CO.; and by his nieces, Shaunna and Alysia. He will also be sorely missed by his wife’s extended family, the Wilsons, who forever counted him as a beloved member of their own clan. It gives the Wilsons great comfort that he will be inurned forever next to Thomas and Anne Wilson, two of his favorite people in the world. In his teen years, Chris once showed up at the Wilson’s front door on Depot Road in Windham. He had had an argument with his father and climbed out of his upstairs bedroom window at Nesmith Street.
Chris asked Anne, “Anne? Can I stay here?”
She immediately responded yes and then queried, “How long, Chris?”
He famously responded, “Forever.”
Anne dubbed him “Forever Fowler” that night, and indeed, it has come to pass. We wish him every newfound joy and glorious peace, after dying in the luminescence of a full Flower Moon.
Friends and family are invited to the Peabody Funeral Home at 15 Birch St., Derry, NH., 03038, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on June 1, 2024, to reminisce and honor Chris’s amazing and multi-faceted life. Following this gathering of commemoration, Chris’s partial remains will be interred at noon on the same day in Forest Hill Cemetery, on Cemetery Road (off East Derry Rd), in Derry, NH. A light lunch and celebration of his life will be held afterwards. Later this summer, his closest family and friends will spread his last remains into the seas off Cape Ann from his favorite Gloucester schooner, the Thomas E. Lannon.