Father Joe Fowler: God’s Humble Servant

1935-2026

By Jim Wayne

Father Joe Fowler, co-founder of Community Catholic Center, was welcomed home to his Heavenly Father on Valentine Day, 2026. . . a fitting day to die for someone who brought so much love into our divided world. He was 90 years old.

As administrator of two parishes in Portland in 2003, Fr. Joe felt a passionate bond with people in this struggling part of our city. Perhaps this passion was fostered years before in his large West Louisville working class family. There he did not know the comforts and privileges of the affluent, which no doubt helped him identify with parents who struggle every day to meet the food, shelter, and educational needs their children.

Portland is full of these families. But it also has a disproportionate share of drug and alcohol addicts, prostitutes, family and street violence, and homelessness.

These children of God Fr. Joe also embraced.

Many the time he and I attended funerals of the defeated of Portland. All we could do was just be present for the mothers whose baby’s brain was crushed by an angry boyfriend, or whose adult child OD’d, leaving behind two orphans.

It seemed the list of tragedies of those overwhelmed by death-producing addiction, mental illness, and poverty never overwhelmed Fr. Joe. Instead, he humbly showed up for the suffering and did what he could to prevent more suffering.

Among such preventions was the idea of Community Catholic Center. He knew the public schools in Portland and West Louisville reflected the chaos of the families they served. As a door out of poverty and discord, he envisioned  CCC so parents could choose a Catholic school outside of Portland and West Louisville for their children. CCC would provide all the wrap-around services and a loving community to make sure each child succeeded academically, socially, and spiritually.

However, Fr. Joe, despite his prophetic passion for service, was not a good administrator. He had creative ideas but few gifts to make them happen. But together, he and I gathered capable people to lay the foundations for what CCC is today. In the early years it was a long, difficult effort. At one point we had been reduced to just 8 student and had less than $75 in the bank.

But we kept going, believing, as Mother Theresa said, “if it is God’s work, the money will be there.” On God’s time, the money did come, as did the students and scores of volunteers and competent staff.

Now, 23 years later, CCC stands as one of many of Fr. Joe’s living legacies. This year 130 from families of little means are receiving Catholic educations from preschool through high school. Most of the hundreds of CCC graduates have gone on to lead financially secure, productive lives. More importantly, they each have a foundation in the Catholic faith that can spiritually nourish them for their lifetimes.

We can thank God for the life of Fr. Joe. And we can ponder ways to live as he did: humbly, detached from wealth, and totally dependent on God to use us as God wants to make the world a little more loving.