Curtis Fowle, 94
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. â€' Curtis Fowle, 94, of Sweetwood Retirement Community died Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009, at home.
Born in Aintab, Turkey, on Jan. 22, 1914, son of Luther R. and Helen Curtis Fowle of the American Board Mission, he spent most of his youth in Istanbul. He came to the United States to attend Deerfield Academy and Williams College, from which he graduated in 1935 with a degree in economics. He enrolled in Columbia University in 1941 to pursue a master's degree in business but that effort was interrupted by World War II. He resided in a number of places before moving to Lenox and, in 2000, to Williamstown.
Mr. Fowle accepted a position with Standard Oil of New Jersey after graduation and remained with that company until his retirement in 1976.
Choral singing and gardening were two of his lifelong pleasures. He met his wife, the former Jean Smith, while singing with the Dessoff Choirs in New York City. They married in 1941. Wherever the family lived, the couple sang in a church choir. Mr. Fowle also sang with a madrigal group and with his family, teaching his children four-part harmony at an early age. He loved to weed, plant, rake and mow his yard and held a deep dedication to the eradication of dandelions and wild bamboo.
In 1947, the family moved to Old Greenwich, Conn., where he was active in the Town Players and First Congregational Church. The Fowles lived in Bogota, Colombia, from 1955 through 1957. They then settled in Darien, Conn., where Mr. Fowle was active in town politics, serving as a town representative and town moderator. He volunteered with the United World Federalists and United Nations, and was president of the local League of Women Voters branch for several years. His lifelong interest in public affairs led him to correspond frequently with his senators and representatives, a practice he continued until very recently. He served on the Executive Committee of First Congregational Church of Darien.
He retired to Kimball Farms in Lenox in 1990. A decade later, the couple moved to Sweetwood to be nearer their children.
Besides his wife, he leaves two sons, Richard Lawrence Fowle and his wife, Virginia Brooke, and David Farnsworth Fowle and wife, Helen Olshever, all of Williamstown; two daughters, Ellen Lewis Fowle Wright of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Katharine Curtis Fowle Westwood of Lanesborough; three brothers, Wilson Farnsworth "Farny" Fowle of New York City, James Warren Fowle of Thetford, Vt., and Richardson Fowle of Lebanon, N.H.; a sister, Helen Joy Fowle Smith of Princeton, N.J., and five grandchildren, Adrianne Fowle Patnaud of Ventura, Calif., Abigail and Samantha Westwood of Lanesborough, and Nathan and Jesse Fowle of Williamstown.
FUNERAL NOTICE â€' Burial will be in Thetford, Vt., where his extended family has maintained a home for many generations. A gathering in Thetford to celebrate his life will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that those who wish may make a contribution to the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation through the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams, MA 01247.