Curling legend Fowler dies at 68

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This article was published 29/09/2023 (718 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba curling legend and world champion Lois Fowler died on Thursday. She was 68.

The Brandonite was a true pillar of her curling community as an athlete, mentor, builder and volunteer. Fowler was also a pillar in her family as a wife, mother and grandmother.

And she was as competitive as anyone, determined to beat the odds in anything. That included a battle with ovarian cancer diagnosed in 2017.

“She proved that throughout this journey,” said her son, Rob, “but also throughout her professional career as a real estate agent and no doubt she was often an underdog when she was curling. She proved that in all aspects of her life.

“She was really only given two or three years and was able to get six pretty darn good years. Up until the last couple of weeks, everything was pretty well normal for her.”

Rob added she was surrounded by immediate family, comforting her as she passed.

Lois had a ton of support throughout her battle, just as she supported her teammates through decades of competitive curling. Lori Manning, who won two provincial senior titles and national bronze medals with Fowler can attest.

“She would give you the shirt off her back. She was just a real genuine person. She’d do anything for anyone,” Manning said. “We had a lot of good times. She demanded the best of people. You work hard and we were all for that.

“I’m so grateful for all those girls for asking me on their teams.”

The lengthy list of on-ice achievements by Fowlers actually started with Lois’s husband, Brian, who won the 1987 provincial men’s championship and represented Manitoba at the Brier. Rob said Lois was busy raising him and his sister, Rhonda Ritchie, at the time but dove into the competitive scene as they got older.

“We basically grew up at the curling rink,” Rob said. “When you grow up around something, it’s pretty hard to not want to take part in it.”

Rhonda not only followed in her mom’s footsteps, but she walked side by side on the Scott Tournament of Hearts ice at Brandon’s Keystone Centre as 1993 provincial champions. Lois played third for skip Maureen Bonar — with Allyson Bell at second and Rhonda at lead — on a run to the national final where Manitoba lost to late Saskatchewan icon Sandra Schmirler in an extra end.

Lois won three more provincial women’s titles and enjoyed an undefeated run through the 1998 provincial mixed championship as third for her son’s squad.

They went 6-5 at nationals but Rob loved every second of getting to call his mom a teammate.

“A great teammate,” he said. “She always had that optimism and that optimism really rubbed off on her teammates. That helped not only her but her teammates to get the most out of their ability.

“She just has a positive impact on people, whether that be away from the rink or on the ice. Those qualities are there and she helped our team be better.”

Twenty-one years after her first provincial title, Fowler skipped her team of Bonar, Cathy Gauthier and Allyson Stewart to a Canadian Senior Curling Championship gold medal.

They were far from done there.

Fowler’s squad travelled to Sochi, Russia and cruised to the playoffs. They trounced Sweden’s Gunilla Arfwidsson 11-2 in their semifinal and downed Italy’s Fiona Grace Simpson 6-2 for the world crown.

“You can get really close at the Canadian championship and that’s a wonderful achievement, but at the end of the Canadian championship you’re going to be playing one of the best teams in the world,” Rob said.

“To break through … and have the opportunity to represent the country is a difficult task in itself. To go on and win, couldn’t have been a better way for her to finish up her career.”

Lois wasn’t only a tremendous competitor. Throughout her years as an elite curler, she helped run major events in Brandon in whatever capacity she could. That’s one thing that stood out to Brandon Curling Club past president Shawn Taylor.

“She’s been a huge, huge part of the curling community,” Taylor said. “Not just in Brandon or even Westman, in Manitoba.

“She’s been a role model for a lot of players. She has been a volunteer in a lot of different capacities and typically one of the first to step up when there’s been any kind of curling event held in Brandon.”

Lois retired from competitive curling in 2015 but that hardly meant less time in rinks. She loved watching her grandkids compete. She’d watch Rob and Ericka’s sons, Carson and Aiden play hockey while Rhonda and husband Darren’s son, Nolan, skated for the Brandon Wheat Kings. She also enjoyed watching Nolan’s sister Quinn dance every chance she got.

Lois still scratched her competitive itch on the golf course each summer through 2022. With teammate Laurie Hooke, she qualified for the Tamarack golf tournament ladies’ scramble championship flight.

“She’s had a tough battle and she fought right to the end,” Manning said. “That’s her. She was a fighter all the way, for anything.”

It’s fitting how often the word “championship” comes up in her legacy.

Lois Fowler will forever be remembered as a championship-calibre curler, teammate, wife, mother, grandmother and friend.

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