Alta Frances Fowler , died at Borden Health Center, Kendal at Lexington, on Thursday, November 23, 2006 at the age of 80.
She was the daughter of the late Paul Spangler Fowler and Ella Creighton Daniels Fowler, both former residents of Lexington, Virginia.
Miss Fowler was educated in the USA, Canada, and England. She graduated from Lexington High School in 1942. She was among the first women to attend Washington & Lee during the war years and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Northwestern University in 1945. She received her master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1950, and attended the National War College in 1977.
She enjoyed a long and distinguished career with the U.S. Department of State, beginning as a file clerk at the U.S. Embassy in London, England. She was assigned to posts in Tunisia; and at the Middle East Institute, and in the CIA; and commissioned as a Foreign Service Officer in 1957 with postings in Dacca, Ireland, Malta, Belgium, Australia, the Department of State (Washington, D.C.) and final service as the U.S. Consul General, Curacao, and the U.S. representative to the Netherlands Antilles.
Miss Fowler retired to Lexington in 1983 devoting her time and talent to church and community service. She was an active member of the R. E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church serving its vestry, the Gadsden and Finance Committees, and editing the monthly publication Cross and Crown. She served on the Diocesan Board as a member of Province 6 and as a committee member of Companions in Mission. She was a life member and Trustee of the Rockbridge Historic Society, past president of the Lexington Women's Club, board member of the Virginia Frontier Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, secretary of the English Speaking Union and of the Ecumenical Women's Group.
Miss Fowler is survived by two sisters; Paula Anne Franklin of Baltimore, MD and Jean Ingeborg Wolfe of Lexington; eleven nieces and nephews; and many great-nieces and great-nephews. She was predeceased by her sister Sarah and brother Gordon.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM, Saturday, December 2, at the R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church, following a private burial service at Stonewall Jackson Cemetery, Lexington.
In lieu of flowers the family requests a tax deductible gift be made to the Alta Fowler Memorial Fund in support of historic research projects through the Rockbridge Community Foundation, P. O. Box 1435, Lexington, VA 24450.
Arrangements by the Lomax Funeral Home, Buena Vista.
