Hotelier.
Born at Winnipeg on 22 July 1918, son of Frank Fowlie and Mary Jane Spence (1891-1929), he attended Lord Roberts School and St. John’s College School (now St. John’s-Ravenscourt) from 1920 to 1933, completing his education at Gordon Bell High School in 1936. During the Second World War, he served in India and Burma as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force and received the Burma Star.
Following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather James Fowlie, he entered a life-long career in the hotel industry, managing the St. Vital Hotel on St. Mary’s Road before acquiring the St. James Hotel. He served at one time as President of Manitoba and Canadian Hotel Associations and as a director of the Canadian and American Hotel Associations. He retired from ownership of the hotel in 1975.
In 1951, he married Gwendoline Mary Wright (1923-2009), with whom he had a son. He was an active member of the Niakwa Country Club. As a charter member of the Riverside Lions Club, he served as President for a time, and was also active in Freemasonry, joining Meridian Lodge 140 in 1967, later becoming a member of the Connought Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons. Also in 1967, he joined Khartum Temple, played with the Drum and Bugle Corps, was a director of the Royal Order of Jesters, and served as the housing chairman for the Shriners.
He died at the St. Boniface Hospital on 30 January 2004.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. James Hotel (1719 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)
Birth registration [Gordon James Fowlie], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Winnipeg Visitors Guide, August 1958.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 3 February 2004.
In Lumine: St. John’s College Newsletter, Spring 2004.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 15 May 2024
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