Parker Fowler

F. Parker Fowler, Jr. ˜Parker' passed away at his home in Longmont on February 9, 2011 after a long battle with esophageal cancer. Parker was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 21, 1926, to Frank P. Fowler, Sr. and Dorothy Hinckley Fowler, thirty minutes after his twin. As he was not expected, the obstetrician notified Frank, Sr., that that will be another $25!Parker attended public schools (ETHS) in Evanston, Illinois. He and his twin brother, Hugh, joined the Navy(V-12) in 1943; they came to CUBoulder in 1944 in the NROTC. Following commissioning, at Naval Operating Base Guam he was Officer-in-Charge of Yard-Craft, and Skipper of yard tug Chicomico, in which he logged more than 6500 nautical miles. He separated from the Reserve as Lieutenant.Parker received his BS(Bus.) and MA from CU, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau. He earned his PhD in Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research at UCalifornia/Berkeley. He was one of the first IBM fellows. He wrote a book, Basic Mathematics for Administration, Wiley & Sons, 1962. He held one of the earliest CCP Certificates, the pinnacle of achievement for IT professionals specializing in management.Parker first taught at Colorado State University. In 1961 he headed for the University of New Mexico where he installed the first IBM 401 computer and became department head of their first data processing department. He returned to Colorado as IT Director for the Department of Higher Education in 1967. His plan for distributive statewide use of computers (CHESS “ Systems Sharing) was ignored as too revolutionary, but following his departure for the campus it was eventually installed statewide and became a model for many other states.As one of the first professors of computer science, and with early business experience in Denver at Eaton Metal Products and especially in the Traffic Department at Montgomery Ward, he joined the CU faculty, teaching finance, advanced statistics and business math. There he introduced the first computer to the School of Business (a DEC 1000). During his many years teaching at CU Denver he was instrumental in the introduction and use of the Apple Macintosh, especially in the School of Architecture, where it literally replaced drawing tables, paper and pencils. He retired from teaching in 1996.In 1976, as a sideline to teaching, he formed with brother Hugh a software company called HMO Systems. They designed and installed the first digital data-based management system for healthcare, serving thousands of insureds in a Federally-chartered HMO. In 1995 he joined his brother again, in Classic Schools, Inc., designing a Macintosh system to serve both the educational and the management needs of a Core Knowledge Charter School, the Cherry Creek Academy. He consulted with several subsequent schools, including the initiation of St.Vrain Academy, which became the Twin Peaks Academy charter school in Longmont. All of these schools continue to serve their students with excellence. The burdens of twinship and resulting identity crises began with the switch of birth certificates in 1926 and persisted through many years. Every yearbook junior high through Navy and college has the twins photos switched! He played left guard on the Phi Tau touch football team; there was always the question of whether Parker caught the critical pass on the way to the 1947 championship, or whether it was his (pass-ineligible Center) brother. It helped that the official was also a twin! And then there was the mustache which Parker felt compelled to wear for the two decades of his brother's political service, especially when Hugh was a Regent of the University where Parker was on the faculty. Their mother announced during high school that she was through trying to call them by the right name. But Parker always enjoyed life and being a one-egg twin was something he deemed a special advantage.As Parker said, he was a prenatal Presbyterian, and was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Boulder. He had been a ruling Elder in both Albuquerque and at Westview Presbyterian Church in Longmont. Parker loved music and singing. He led his fraternity chapter to songfest championships for three successive cycles. He directed the Longs Peak Chorus of SPEBSQSA for ten years and led the barbershoppers to their first championship. He always sang in his church choirs and also with the Longmont Chorale over many years. Parker, Bass II, was a founding member of Jubilaté Sacred Singers in Boulder, and enjoyed every minute of his rehearsals and performances with this outstanding group “- especially their appearance at Carnegie Hall.Parker was an aficionado of antique farm machinery. He and Charly owned a 1924 Minneapolis steam traction engine which made many appearances along the Front Range. Parker was Member #46 of the Front Range Antique Power Association. In 1969 he founded, with Charly and Hugh, the Colorado and New Mexico Society for the Preservation of the Narrow Gauge, which raised the money critically necessary to fund the beginning operation of what would become the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. He was a Director of the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad for more than a decade, making countless contributions toward the preservation and protection of this priceless legend of the San Luis Valley and Northern New Mexico.As Chairman of the Longmont Bicentennial Committee in 1976 he helped save Old St. Stephens Church on Main Street in Longmont and was instrumental in the rescue and relocation of the old Stroh barn.Parker and Gretchen Purdum of Tulsa were married in 1957. They had four children: BrianWade (died in infancy), Frank III, Ames, and Allison. He moved his family from Boulder to the Fowler family farm northwest of Longmont in 1968. On April 27, 1976 he married Charlene ˜Charly' Faimon in Boulder.He is survived by Charly, his wife of 35 years; his son Frank P. Fowler III and wife Rachel, their children Parker and Benjamin, of Longmont; his son John ˜Ames' Fowler and wife Liz, their children A.J, Alexis, Mary, Allison and Charles of Centennial; his daughter Allison Ames Cross and husband Scott, and their daughter Helen of Nederland; his step-daughter Randi Pepper and her daughter Ryann of Fraser, CO; his identical twin brother Senator Hugh C. Fowler and wife Shirley, their children Laurie and Chuck and their families; and brother David A. and his wife Marilyn of Denver, and their sons David, Jr., Craig, and Todd, and their families.Memorial service will be 2 PM Wednesday February 16, 2011 at First Presbyterian Church of Boulder at 1820 15th St. Boulder. Private inurnment at Longmont Mountain View Cemetery. Cremation at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel and Crematory. Memorial Contributions may be made to Hospice of Boulder and Broomfield Counties, c/o Ahlberg Funeral Chapel, 326 Terry Street, Longmont CO 80501.