John Richard Fowler

John Richard Fowler​ (Appointee to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy and the Red River Authority of Texas)​
Born	February 17, 1927​ Sayre, Beckham County Oklahoma, USA​
Died	March 23, 2007 (aged 80) ​ Memphis, Hall County, Texas Resting place: Fairview Cemetery in Memphis​
Spouse	Louise R. Fowler​ Children: Roger Fowler ​ Paul Fowler ​ Julie Fowler Thrash Parents: John A. and Ruth Garrett Fowler​ Alma mater: Petersburg (Texas) High School ​ University of Texas at Austin​​
Religion	Christian Church ​

John Richard Fowler, known as Dick Fowler (February 17, 1927 – March 23, 2007), was a local politician in Memphis in Hall County in west Texas, who was appointed by two different governors to regional or statewide agencies. He was a registered pharmacist.​

Background[edit]

Fowler was born in Sayre in Beckham County in southwestern Oklahoma, to John A. and Ruth Garrett Fowler. He graduated from Petersburg High School in Petersburg in Hale County, north of Lubbock, Texas. Fowler was a veteran of the United States Navy. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the University of Texas at Austin,^[1]

Career[edit]

For most of his career, he was a partner with his father and brother in the Fowler Drug Company in Memphis, which has since been sold. For most of his career, he was a partner with his pharmacist father and brother, Robert Edward "Bob" Fowler (born November 16, 1928), in Fowler Drug Company. The Fowlers sold the business in 1994 to John Riddles. Thereafter, Riddles sold to Jana K. Gonzalez, a graduate of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University School of Pharmacy in Weatherford in Custer County. She operates the company under the name Memphis Drugs.

In 1960, Governor Marion Price Daniel, Sr. (1910-1988), named Fowler to the board of commissioners of the Red River Authority of Texas, a state conservation agency based in Wichita Falls, a position which he held until 1967. At that time Governor John B. Connally, Jr., named Fowler to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, an independent regulatory agency, at which he served until 1973. He was the board president from 1969 to 1970.^[1]​ ​ In 1977, Fowler was elected to the Memphis Independent School District board of trustees. He served until 1983, when he opted not to seek another term. In 2003, he was elected to his first two-year term on the Memphis City Council. He was re-elected in 2005, and was running unopposed in 2007 at the time of his death.^[1]​

Family and death[edit]

Fowler was survived by his wife of fifty-seven years, Mary Louise Rogers Fowler (1930-2014).^[2] The couple had three children and five grandchildren. He was an active member of the First Christian Church of Memphis, the Memphis Lions International, and the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. He was a Freemason for more than a half-century.^[1]​

References[edit]

• A.H. Belo, Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide (1989)​.

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