MIchael John Fowler

Michael John Fowler of Riverside, California, passed away at 67 on Monday, December 23, 2024, following a long-term cancer illness. Mike was born in Brooklyn, New York, September 22, 1957, to proud parents Irving and Nancy Fowler. Mike already had an older sister, Janice, and later would have a younger sister, Christine, who was born in California. Mike resided in the Brooklyn home until our father obtained a transfer from IBM to relocate the family to Southern California in 1961. Since our father had been stationed in Riverside at March Ari Force Base in the early 50's, our parents decided to pack up the family Rambler station wagon and head west towards the beautiful city of Riverside with its perpetual sunshine and citrus trees. Mom and Dad purchased our first home in 1962 in the Victoria Woods neighborhood and immediately became members of the Riverside Swim and Tennis Club. Mike was a member of the swim team for 6 years and took his first tennis lessons there. The Fowler family became members of St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in 1961 and enrolled Mike and Janice at St. Catherine's catholic school from K-8 grades. Mike then continued on to Notre Dame H.S. and graduated in 1975. His 50* reunion would have been in 2025. Mike continued his education at Riverside City College earning an A.A. degree while playing a lot of tennis and dreaming he would be the next Andre Agassi! Early on Mike was on a Little League baseball team surprisingly named "The Stinkers," which our father helped coach. The team actually did pretty well despite the name. Mike added other interests including boy scouts, biking, fishing, and snow skiing. Lake Havasu river trips in Arizona began in 1969 where Dad taught us al to drive a boat and waterski. The Colorado River became an annual family trip that continues to this day. Our family RV took us on many trips and introduced us to national parks in numerous states throughout the years. Mike would later "cut his mountain teeth" backpacking in the Sierras and climbing M.t Whitney with some of the neighborhood gang and was even fortunate enough to experience 3 trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northeast Minnesota along the Canadian border. Mike spent a lot of time, even though he was very ill, planning one last dream trip to the Boundary Waters in 2022 with family members, however, due to extreme fire conditions in that area, al reservations were cancelled. At least Mike did have a good time planning and talking about his previous three trips there. Mike took sailing lessons at Fairmont Park one summer which sparked a passion of anything sailboat related. His house is decorated with a huge nautical collection. Unfortunately, most of the ship model building kits Mike had stashed away for retirement never got built. At some point Mike took an active interest in gold panning while traveling to northern California. Auburn was one of his favorite areas. He would seek out backcountry locations with his favorite red Ford Bronco, pitch a tent, and pan for gold. Mike took some of his better "findings" to a jeweler who custom designed a ring displaying a large quartz stone and gold nuggets in a unique setting. He proudly wore that ring which was often a topic of conversation. Mike began a 36-year career working at the Caterpillar dealership "Johnson Machinery, Inc." (later sold to Quinn CAT). He was blessed to have built so many wonderful relationships with co-workers and customers alike throughout the years. I've been told Mike was known as a CAT encyclopedia of used parts and it was obvious to us that he truly loved his job. Some of Mike's bonuses during his CAT years were actual cats that would find their way onto the company backlot. Mike would feed them and too often take them home to live. There was something like nine cats that he rescued this way. One of his first feral cats he named "J.C." - short for Johnson CAT! They were lucky cats, indeed! Mike had two special dogs in his life that were his constant companions. Laska was his first and she was a "Mackenzie River" husky born in Alaska and later adopted by our family. The second was Shasta who was solid white with blue eyes who also had lineage to the husky in the 1994 "Iron Will" dog-sled race movie. Mike lived in downtown Riverside for over 35 years in a neighborhood just below the Mt. Rubidoux landmark. His house was an annual gathering place over the years for Fourth of July viewing parties with friends and family. Mike is preceded in death by his father, Irving. He is survived by his mother, Nancy, sisters Janice Wood (Roland) and Christine Fowler (Anthony Sanchez). Also, he was Uncle Mike to Kersten Clinton (Ken Hal), Brett Clinton, David Wood (Kerri), and Brianna Wood, and Great-Uncle Mike to siblings Vivienne and Emerson Hall, Brisalinda and Teagan Wood. A Celebration of Life will be held at Preston and Simons Colonial Chapel, on January 30 (Thursday), 2025, commencing at 2:00 PM, 3358 Mission Inn Ave, CA Riverside downtown.

MIchael John Fowler

September 22, 1957 - December 23, 2024