Beloved grandfather, husband, and nearly scratch golfer, Stephen Craig Fowler of Aurora, Indiana passed away peacefully at home on April 13, 2024 shortly after a cancer diagnosis. Surrounded by his family and friends, Craig walked into the arms of his loving daughter Darcy Lynne, who preceded him in death.
Craig was born in South Bend, Indiana on July 29, 1946 to Dr. Ross and Betty (nee Deweese) Fowler. After a childhood in Bloomington, Indiana filled with baseball, motorcycles, and general mischief, Craig graduated from Indiana University High School in Bloomington in 1964.
He served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1972, and was stationed in Washington, D.C. and in Heidelberg, Germany with military intelligence. While stationed in Germany he enjoyed photographing European architecture, sampling German beer, and cruising the Autobahn.
After returning to the US with an Honorable Discharge, Craig earned a B.S. in Business Management from Indiana University in 1973.
Craig earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Butler University in 1977, and began a long and successful career in human resources at heavy industry manufacturing plants, including Dana Corporation, Xtek, Hewlett Packard, and retiring in 2012 from Flaktwoods. He was universally respected as an unshakably calm and analytical manager with a knack for finding the common ground between shopfloor employees and management.
Upon the Fowlers move to first Dillsboro and later Aurora, Craig was a dedicated member of the Southeast Indiana civic community—he coached South Dearborn’s girls soccer team and numerous little league teams, and was a member of the Dearborn County Park Board, South Dearborn Dollars for Scholars, 4-H Advisory Board and the Aurora Lion’s Club.
Craig retired in 2012 and devoted his life to his true passions: golfing, walking with his favorite son (his dog, Decker), and playing pickleball. His retirement years were spent between Aurora and Tucson, Arizona, where he remains known as an infamous pickleball evangelist and renowned wisecracker.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Natalie, and three sons Kyle (Vanessa) of Denver, Colorado, Kirk (Shayna), of Lake Mary, Florida, and Corbin (Jessica) of Linz, Austria.
Craig will be remembered as an unbendingly moral man with a razor sharp wit and a passion for golf, the newest tech, and the finest outdoor gear money can buy. He will be missed, but not forgotten.
Please join us in a Celebration of Craig’s life on Saturday, April 20 from 2-4 pm at the Aurora Lions Club Building, 233 Main St. Aurora, IN.
Memorials in Craig’s name may be made to the Ebeneezer Baptist Church,16393 SR-148 Aurora, IN 47001
