[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 110 (Monday, September 18, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1518-E1519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOE C. FOWLER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 18, 2000

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, Joe C. Fowler has just retired after more 
than 50 years of service to this Nation in law enforcement.
  He served as a Patrolman, Detective, and Chief of the Knoxville 
Police Department, Sheriff of Knox County, and for the past six years 
as United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
  Marshal Fowler has served in each of these positions with great honor 
and distinction.
  More importantly, he has never lost his humility and has always 
supported and remembered the importance of the officer on the beat.
  As high as Marshal Fowler rose, he never became too big to help serve 
pancakes at the annual fund raising breakfast for the Northside Kiwanis 
Club.
  He is a dedicated family man, having been married to his wife Sue for 
44 years, and they have two sons and four grandchildren.
  This County would be a much better place if we had more men life Joe 
Fowler.
  I submit for the Record an article about Marshal Fowler's career from 
the September 18th issue of the Knoxville News-Sentinel and call it to 
the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the Record.


[[Page E1519]]



           [From the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Sept. 18, 2000]

            Fowler Retires After 50 years in Law Enforcement

                             (By Laura Ayo)

       It was a Sunday morning in August 1974 when one of Chief 
     Joe C. Fowler's Knoxville Police Department officers was shot 
     in the chest while struggling with a burglary suspect.
       ``By the time they got me to the hospital, he was already 
     there,'' the officer, John Guider, recalled about the man who 
     went on to head two more law enforcement agencies in 
     Knoxville.
       Guider, now senior deputy U.S. Marshal in the Knoxville 
     district office, described the incident as his fondest memory 
     of Fowler.
       ``No one could have asked for anything better than the way 
     he treated my family,'' Guider said. ``He really took care of 
     my mother and (ex) wife, more than you'd expect somebody 
     would.''
       On Aug. 31, Fowler retired as U.S. Marshal for the Eastern 
     District of Tennessee, ending a unique, 50-year career in law 
     enforcement that saw him hold the titles of police chief, 
     sheriff, state warden and federal marshal--the only man to do 
     so, according to colleagues.
       Fresh out of the military and not finding what he wanted in 
     college, Fowler found his calling with a badge and uniform.
       ``It's been a very interesting career,'' the 73-year-old 
     Knoxville native said. ``I wouldn't trade it for anything.''
       In 1970, the year he became chief of the KPD, Fowler hired 
     21-year-old Phil Keith as a rookie officer.
       ``I grew up in this police department,'' said Keith, who is 
     now police chief, ``Next to my dad, Joe Fowler was right up 
     there at the top.''
       At an Aug. 28 retirement party Keith presented Fowler a 
     citation of merit for distinguished service in law 
     enforcement and one of the department's millennium badges 
     with the word ``chief'' on it.
       Mayor Victor Ashe proclaimed Aug. 28, 2000, Joe Fowler Day 
     in Knoxville.
       ``He told me one time the most important goal you can have 
     in life as a police officer is to make a difference, not just 
     with citizens, but also with police officers,'' Keith 
     recalled.
       Keith credited Fowler with giving him the opportunities, 
     skills and friendship that enabled him to work his way 
     through the ranks to chief.
       ``He always told me to be responsible to the citizens and 
     try to better the profession,'' Keith said. ``He's one of 
     these fellows who didn't have to speak the loudest in the 
     room. I learned from that. He taught me a lot of tolerance 
     and being compassionate.''
       Much of what Fowler set in motion as chief through resource 
     building, planning and setting standards has made the police 
     department what it is today, Keith added.
       ``He was not afraid to go against the grain if it was the 
     right thing to do,'' he said.
       Deputy U.S. Marshal Chuck Pittman worked as a sheriff's 
     deputy for four years while Fowler served as sheriff in the 
     1980s.
       ``First of all, the thing he brought to the sheriff's 
     department was a sense of integrity,'' Pittman said. ``He's 
     always been an honorable, honorable man.''
       After being defeated by Tim Hutchison in 1990 for a third 
     term as sheriff, Fowler served as warden of a state-operated 
     work-release facility in Knoxville.
       Pittman and Guider were pleased when they heard their 
     former boss would again be their boss in the Marshals 
     Service. President Bill Clinton appointed Fowler in 1994 to 
     his last post, where he oversaw the protection of the federal 
     courts, judges and witnesses, and the custody of federal 
     prisoners.
       ``He's the first good marshal I've worked for, and he's my 
     third presidential appointee,'' Guider said. ``He has good 
     investigative experience. But what I liked about him best was 
     he was new to the Marshals Service and if he didn't know 
     something, he would ask somebody instead of making snap 
     judgments and I like that.''
       Guider said Fowler knew how to show he cared about his 
     employee's personal lives without interfering. He drank 
     coffee with his staff each morning and loved to discuss the 
     University of Tennessee football team.
       ``The whole office is going to miss him,'' Pittman said.
       Looking back on his career, Fowler said his most rewarding 
     times were when he worked with juveniles or got to hand over 
     a large forfeiture check to a small, poorly funded sheriff's 
     department involved in an arrest.
       ``It gives your heart a good feeling when you can be there 
     and help,'' he said.
       At one time, college panty raids were the most frustrating 
     thing an officer had to endure. Now, Fowler said officers 
     have to worry about making split-second decisions they'll 
     likely have to defend in a courtroom later.
       ``When I came in on the police department, the general 
     public and even criminals respected you for what you were,'' 
     the white-haired, gentle-voiced Fowler recalled. ``We didn't 
     have the problems we have today.''
       Fowler said he'll miss the deputies, judges, court staff 
     and people in the various agencies the Marshals Service works 
     with daily.
       ``These are just great people,'' he said. ``They're 
     dedicated; they love their job.''
       Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Don Benson will serve as interim 
     U.S. Marshal until a new appointment is made, Fowler said. 
     It's not known how long it will be until a new marshal is 
     appointed, but he said probably nothing will happen until a 
     new president is elected.
       Although Fowler described his years as a motorcycle officer 
     as the most fun he had in law enforcement, he won't be 
     jumping on a bike and hitting the open road any time soon. 
     Other than getting to odd jobs around the house and spending 
     time with Sue, his wife of 44 years, two sons and four 
     grandchildren, Fowler has no specific plans for how he'll 
     spend his retirement.
       ``I've got things to do,'' he said. ``I'm looking forward 
     to relaxing.''

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