Rachel Fowler, a card-carrying member of the Garden Club of Georgia, knew her flowers. But she also knew her way around the halls of the state Capitol.
The quintessential grandmother figure, full of Southern charm, waged war against billboard companies, battled to save trees and fought for cleaner water on behalf of the Garden Club and other environmental groups. As an unpaid lobbyist she was a legendary figure in legislative circles, and that was before she publicly scolded a state senator in front of his peers.
“More than once we (lobbyists) have laughed at lawmakers literally running from her, with a panic-stricken look on their faces,” said Neill Herring, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club and other environmental groups. “Her package was deceptive, you could say. I mean, she looked like this nice grandmother, but they didn’t know there was a strong mind behind that cute face.”
Though Fowler had stepped back from her lobbying in the last year or so, she still liked to go to the Capitol to be a part of the scene, said her daughter Sherree Hill of Lilburn.
“I think my sister took off work to take her to the first day of the session last year,” Hill said.
Fowler, who was in an automobile accident Thursday, was pronounced dead after being transported to Rockdale Medical Center. She was 88. A funeral is planned for 1 p.m. Wednesday at A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, which is also in charge of arrangements. Burial will follow at Crest Lawn Memorial Park.
Fowler was a native of Paris, Ark., and worked as a secretary for several years. She came to Atlanta in 1948, and first worked for what was Troutman, Sams, Schroder & Lockerman. She left that job to work for George L. Smith II during his second stint as speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, and she remained in his employ until he died in 1973. Later she became the administrative assistant to state Supreme Court Justice Hardy Gregory Jr., and when he retired in 1989, so did she.
“She used her background as a secretary in attorneys’ offices and in the Legislature to help the Garden Club in their efforts,” said Mary Lovings, a friend and fellow Garden Club member. “Some of that language seemed just impossible to read, but Rachel could do it and explain it.”
Hill said her mother never tired of the annual legislative process because she saw it as a chance to help people and the environment. Her mother always believed there was more to do, and it was work she didn’t take lightly.
Herring said Fowler would “march right up to anybody and say exactly what was on her mind.” She did just that when she confronted former Augusta-area state Sen. Joey Brush during the 2002 legislative session one day and told him his remarks were “very inappropriate.”
According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, Brush thought the Garden Club’s issues didn’t belong at the Capitol, and he voiced his opposition on the floor.
“If they’re concerned about their garden clubs, then I say go get a garden somewhere,” he said at the time.
Fowler, who was sitting in the Senate balcony, told a reporter, “We’re much more than women on our knees, digging in the dirt with a trowel. Now I’ll have a pitchfork in my hand.”
Fowler is also survived by a second daughter, Susan Sawyer of Conyers; two grandsons; and one great-grandson.
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