Obituary: Joan Chandler Fowler, Hood River

Joan Chandler Fowler passed away suddenly at her home on August 6, 2022, at the age of 90. She was born on June 9, 1932, in McCloud, California, to Orville and Bell Chandler. Soon after, the family moved to the foothills of the Elkhorn Mountains just outside of Haines, Oregon." 

 Her childhood on the Chandler Ranch was of another era – Joan and her three siblings, Dan, Pat and Janet all pitched into hay the fields and raise the cattle. Starting at the young age of eight, she worked a team of draft horses by herself. She and her younger brothers had many early mornings milking jersey cows before they rode their horses to school.  Twice, while riding her beloved mare, Shodie, to school they slipped on the ice and Joan broke her femur, a serious injury in those days.  It must be said Joan was truly a child of her Chandler ranch whose ways and loves and values she never left.  

 After graduating from North Powder High School, Joan attended the University of Oregon—where she was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority and met her future husband, Earl Fowler. Shortly after graduating with a Master’s in English, Earl and she married and moved to Hood River to teach high school. Joan spent her career as an English teacher first at Wy’East High School and later at Hood River Valley High, where she oversaw the yearbook. She loved animals and raised many horses, cows, cats and dogs. Joan and Earl lived out their lives at their home on Wy’East Drive in Odell, where they raised their two children Brad and Jacqueline. She had a remarkable breadth and depth of knowledge and was known for her wit and humor.   

 Joan was preceded in death by her two brothers, Dan and Pat Chandler; her sister, Janet Skarsett and her husband Earl Fowler. She is survived by her children Brad (Kathryn Klein) and Jacqueline (Marcus) Lampros; her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, most of whom still live in the Hood River Valley.  

 A celebration of her life will be held at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, October 1st at Stave and Stone Winery 3827 Fletcher Drive, Hood River, Oregon 97031