Dr. Fred Fowler

Fred D. Fowler, M.D., 97 died on April 19, 2022 at Kansas City, Missouri. He was a neurosurgeon and was president of the medical staff at St. Luke's Hospital, Providence Hospital, and Children's Mercy Hospital (where he also headed the neurosurgical section from 1960-1987).

He was born in Newton, Massachusetts and moved to Kansas City in 1957.  He attended Harvard College, graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1947, and took training in neurology and neurosurgery at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Children's Hospital in Boston, the Hospital for Nervous Disease in London, and the Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.  He served as Professor protem of Neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital in Boston in 1970.  He was a diplomate of the Board of Neurological Surgery and a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Neurosurgical Society of America.  He was former president of the Jackson County Medical Society, vice-president of the Missouri State Medical Association, and cofounder of the NW Missouri PSRO.  He was a president of the Kansas City Neurosurgical Society.  He served as Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Medical School and was a member of the Evaluation Council from 1978-88.  He was a lecturer in the Humanities program of the Medical School from 1995-2008.  He served on the board of directors of Providence-St.Margaret Hospital, Kansas City Blue Shield, K.C. Area Hospital Association, and the K.C. Free Health Clinic.  He published papers on a wide variety of neurological and neurosurgical subjects.

Dr. Fowler was president and chairman of the board of the Kansas City Lyric Opera and a cofounder of the Lyric Guild.  He was president of the board of the Unicorn Theatre and on the Board of Trustees of the UMKC Conservatory of Music.  He performed with many musical groups in Kansas City including the Missouri Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Music Associates.  He served on the board of the Missouri State Council on the Arts and the Missouri Arts Foundation and was a member of the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Missouri Citizens for the Arts.  He was also on the Board of Trustees of the Kansas City Philharmonic and a member of the Philharmonic League.  He was a member of the task force to develop a business plan during the formation of the Kansas City Arts Council. He served as director on the boards of the Kansas City Ballet and the Heartland Men’s Chorus. He served on the award selection committee for the Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund.

He participated in the Brookings Institute Conference on Urban Policy for Kansas City in 1973-74.  He worked as a volunteer for the Good Samaritan Project and formerly acted as its medical coordinator.  He worked as a volunteer for the SAVE Home and the Kansas City Free Health Clinic and was vice-president of the board of the KC Free Health Clinic.  He was a member of the Greater Kansas City AIDS Ethics Committee and a Trustee of the Midwest Bioethics Center where, since 1995, he conducted a monthly reading seminar for medical professionals.  He was an incorporating board member of the Kansas City AIDS Service Foundation.  In 1995, he was given the ‘Excellence in Board Leadership Award’ by the Center for Management Assistance and in 1996 the ‘Penny Vrooman Award’ by the board of the Kansas City Free Health Clinic.  The Ribbon of Hope Committee gave him the ‘Marion Kreamer Award’ in 1998 for his work in helping to develop AIDS services at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic

His wife, Mary Ellen, preceded him in death in 1984.  Survivors include his daughter Emily, his sons Eben and Seth, 5 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, and his longtime companion Ernest L. Williams.  The family suggests contributions to Children's Mercy Hospital or the Kansas City Lyric Opera.