Most Eminent Marvin Edward Fowler
1904-2001
49th Grand Master of the Grand Encampment
1988-1991
Sir Knight Fowler was born on October 12, 1904, in Salisbury, Missouri. He earned an A.B. degree from Central College, Fayette, Missouri, in 1926 and an M.A. from George Washington University in 1931.
Employed as a plant pathologist for the U.S. Forest Service for thirty-four and a half years, he was the author of over 75 scientific publications, including A Guide to Forest Disease Research in the Northeast, published by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Marvin Fowler entered government service with the Division of Forest Pathology in 1929. He conducted research on a wide range of forest tree diseases, including chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease, and organized and conducted the first airplane survey for forest tree disease in the United States. He became Chief of the Division of Forest Disease Research at the Northeastern Station in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania in 1956.
He lived in the Washington area from the 1920s until 1956. He returned to the area from Pennsylvania in 1963 and settled into retirement in Alexandria with his wife, Roberta. He was active in community affairs and was a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church. From 1965 to 1985, he was Secretary/Treasurer of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association in Alexandria.
Sir Knight Fowler was Raised in Hebron Lodge No. 354, Mexico, Missouri, and in 1927 served as Worshipful Master. He later became a member and Past Master of Lafayette-Dupont Lodge No. 19, District of Columbia, where he also served as Lodge trustee. In 1950 he served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. He then served on the Grand Lodge Jurisprudence Committee and was president of the Masonic Foundation of the District of Columbia.
He was Exalted to the Holy Royal Arch degree in Mexico Chapter No. 27 in Missouri. He subsequently held memberships in the District of Columbia’s Columbia Chapter No. 1, Royal Arch Masons and Adoniram Council No. 2, Royal & Select Masters. He served as Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons of the District of Columbia and was its Grand Secretary from 1963-1983. In the General Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons, International, he served as General Grand Principal Sojourner and Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs from 1978 to 1981.
Sir Knight Fowler was knighted to the Order of the Temple in Crusade Commandery No. 23, Mexico, Missouri. He became a member of Columbia Commandery No. 2, in the District of Columbia. He served the Grand Encampment as Chairman of the Easter Sunrise memorial Service Committee from 1967-1979. Sir Knight Fowler was appointed Right Eminent Grand Captain General of the Grand Encampment, Knights Templar, on March 6, 1980, following the death of William P. Wilson, R.E. Grand Generalissimo was elected R.E. Grand Generalissimo, August 18, 1982, at Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas; was elected R.E. Deputy Grand Master, August 13, 1985, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and was elected Most Eminent Grand Master, August 9, 1988, at Lexington, Kentucky.
In addition, he was Past Sovereign of St. Simon Stylites Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine; Past Prior of Francis Scott Key Priory No. 14, KYCH; Past Grand Master General of the Convent General, KYCH; Past Grand Master, Allied Masonic Degrees; Past Grand Chancellor, Grand College of Rites; Past Grand Preceptor, HRAKTP; and Past Great Chief, Knight Masons. He was also a Past Illustrious Grand Master, and a Past Grand Commander of the Grand York Rite Masonic Bodies in the District of Columbia. In 1953 he was installed as Provincial Grand Master of the Royal Order of Scotland in the U.S. and served for more than 40 years.
Sir Knight Fowler was a Senior DeMolay and an active member of the International Supreme Council of DeMolay. He was also a past presiding officer of the four Scottish Rite Bodies in the Valley of Washington in the Orient of the District of Columbia. and was coroneted as an Inspector General Honorary, 33°, in October 1943.
Other honors he received include the Distinguished Service Medal of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia; the Henry Price Medal of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts; the Henry Johnson Medal of the Grand Lodge New York; the Joshua Hayden Drummond Award of the Grand Lodge of Maine; the Albert Gallatin Mackey Medal of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina; the Daniel Cox Medal of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey; and the Thomas J. Shryock Medal of the Grand Lodge of Maryland.
Sir Knight Fowler passed away from cancer on December 11, 2001, at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He was 97 years, 1 month, and 29 days. He was survived by his wife of 47 years Roberta, and two daughters India Bell Davin of Annapolis, Maryland, and Terri Almacy of Frederick, Maryland. Another daughter, Marcia Statler, predeceased him. He had seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
The following Eulogy was presented by Most Worshipful Brother Stewart W. Miner, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge, F.A&.A.M. of the District of Columbia, at the Masonic Services for Past Grand Master Marvin E. Fowler.
William Shakespeare once wrote that some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. At the time he penned those words, Shakespeare must have had in mind someone like Marvin Fowler, a man who by word and deed achieved unusual Masonic greatness; in this achievement, he also made the Fraternity great.
To be born great is an act of providence, and it is clearly providential that Marvin Fowler was endowed by his Creator with unusual intellect, physical stamina, an inquisitive mind, a pleasant personality, and an extraordinary appreciation of his personal obligation to use all of these gifts of God properly. Indisputably, Marvin Fowler was born to be great.
Also, it is indisputable that Marvin achieved greatness, not because of his endowment but because of his apt application of his God-given talents, always facing the challenges of life with confidence and optimism. For almost 75 years he busied himself by serving every major Masonic body, subordinate or Grand, and always with distinction. In the process he took no shortcuts; his was a working sojourn through the quarries of Masonry.
It is equally clear that because of his skill and the superior quality of his performance, greatness was thrust upon him from all quarters. Following his service as Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia, he was called upon to lead significant sectors of the Craft, nationally and internationally, and under his leadership those sectors of the Craft for which he was responsible thrived.
Marvin was in a class by himself, and his death indeed marks the end of a Masonic era throughout the Masonic world. Marvin was not known as “Mr. Mason” for nothing. It was a title he never sought, but one that was bestowed upon him by his fellow Masons as a token of their love and respect. His passing leaves a void that will remain as long as the countless Masons who know him and worked with him have memories.
Throughout the years Marvin’s greatness was self-achieved, the result, in part, of his inability or rather unwillingness to say no to his contemporaries. One task inevitably led to another, and in consequence, Marvin was never without Masonic employment. And through it all, Marvin continuously enunciated what he believed were the essentials of life-concerns about the interrelationships of men; concerns about how man uses or misuses his intellectual resources; concerns about how men in the fraternity act; and concerns, particularly, about how people, in general, adapt to change.
The enormity of his concerns was established in a 1950 report [at the beginning of the Korean War] when he stated that: “We are not alarmed about the condition of our craft…but we are fearful for the future of the human race. Only a few short years ago we congratulated ourselves that peace had been restored to the world after its most bloody conflict. Men of great vision and lofty ideals sought to discover the means with which to end warfare for all time, and many believed they were successful in their endeavors. Yet warfare never ceased. Today, as we meet, our nation is in a state of emergency, and we are engaged in what may prove to be our most crucial struggle for freedom. As Masons and loyal citizens of a free land, we are obliged to aid in this struggle against tyranny and oppression . . . Let us work and pray for the day when truth and justice will prevail throughout the world.”
What Marvin said in 1950 is as apropos today as it was then. He was a man ahead of his time; a giant in the Craft; an organizational genius, and, unfortunately, his equal is at the moment not in sight. But we take solace in the fact that by his labors in hundreds of Masonic bodies, he established a foundation on which his survivors may build in preparation for a new day, a better day, and a day in which greater insight and appreciation of the true meaning of brotherly love and affection may be realized.
Goodbye, dear friend, goodbye. You have made your mark. It will be remembered. You have satisfied the Chief Overseer and are entitled to your wage. Pass on, Brother, pass on.
By Sir Knight David Easton Potts, Eminent Past Commander
