Saturday, November 8, 2025
Joan “Joanie” Fowler joined our Heavenly Father on July 10, 2025, after a 2021 fall left her unable to be active as she always loved to be. She is survived by her daughter and son, Mindi and Dain, her granddaughter, Grace, and doting husband of 61+ years, David C. Fowler, who worked tirelessly to get her out and about as long as she was able.
Joanie was born Joan Elva Erkert on Jan. 8, 1943, in Philadelphia, Penn. Living in the hardscrabble Kensington neighborhood with her mother, Gladys Rollins, young Joanie cherished summers in the Amish country of Perkiomenville. After moving to Long Beach, Calif., Joanie became a cheerleader at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and later met her husband at an area snow sport social club.
Dave and Joanie married on April 10, 1964, and when they decided to have kids, they moved to Seattle, where Dave had grown up on Queen Anne hill. They started out in a cozy Alki home, then to Green Lake, welcoming daughter Mindi in 1966, and son Dain in 1971. Working hard together, they built a new home for the family in the Meadowdale area of Lynnwood - with forested land, a barn, corral, and two horses. This fulfilled Joanie’s dream of a country life, and it was named ‘The Rocking J’ ranch, per the memory of Joanie rocking on a porch chair while babysitting as a teen.
After discovering Montessori while putting Mindi in preschool, Joanie interned, earned her certification, and took night classes for her degree in Early Childhood Education. She became a beloved Montessori preschool teacher, taught interns herself, and started her own school, ‘The Joy of Learning,’ in Lynnwood. In retirement, she enjoyed substituting at other schools, including Mukilteo’s Harbour Pointe Montessori. The children she touched are countless, with so many smiling out from class photos dating back to 1971!
Before the advent of today’s family DNA research, Joanie was blessed to discover her half-brother, George Carothers, whose wife, Annie, helped to put the two siblings in touch. They shared love and visits over the years.
The horses were Joanie’s life dream, so Dave’s dream of ‘sailing around the world’ took over for retirement. Joanie joined enthusiastically as the two embarked aboard a 55’ ketch, ‘Amigo del Mundo’ (Friend of the World). They made it down Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, and into the Sea of Cortez, where they decided to store the boat during summers, and became ‘snowbirds’ - returning to Mexico when the seasons turned cold in the Pacific NW.
Upon selling ‘Amigo,’ they kept up the snowbird lifestyle, touring around the U.S. to visit with friends in California, granddaughter Grace in Mississippi, George and Annie in Pennsylvania, and dry camping in Arizona - first with a custom school bus conversion, and then a fancy La Palma RV.
What a fun packed, adventurous, and fulfilled life! The family is grateful to have lived with, loved, and shared Joanie’s energy, positivity, and friendship with the community.
The family requests no flowers, but welcomes memories posted by fellow teachers, students, family and friends at forevermissed.com/joanie-fowler.
