“Happy is the one who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding!” Proverbs 3:13
Born in the late fifties, growing up in the sixties and seventies, marrying in the eighties, and now anything but retired, JK Fowler, or Ken as he is called, would like you to know he loves God and his family. He grew up loved but neglected by a single mother of nine children. As the fourth born, his task was often to care for the younger siblings. This circumstance proved to be useful with his own three children, and now six grandchildren. Yet it was far too much for a child to be a parent in deed to those not much younger than he.
His marriage to Kathleen was after a short stint in the Air Force; a service he had volunteered for rather than being drafted and dropped into the jungles of Vietnam. He worked as a firefighter and still recalls that time as life-changing.
Three children soon arrived within the first three years of marriage. Gainful employment was a challenge in those years, and soon he struck out on his own and started his own heating and air conditioning company, Furnace Physician and Air Conditioning Specialist. For nearly 25 years he succeeded in being one of the best in his business with high customer satisfaction ratings. He worked for himself and led many in lucrative careers in the industry.
In 2014 an accident ended his ability to physically work as he had before. He passed the family business to his son, James II, who then successfully made the transition. Ken’s moving on was much more difficult. He had a hard time with his painful physical disabilities and depressive mood swings soon dominated his every day. It was during this time he was diagnosed with PTSD.
Both Ken and Kathleen heavily advocate for those suffering from mental illness. Painting and creative expression helped them both overcome personal difficulties and explore God given-talents. He had taken and worked in mechanical design and technical illustration and won some childhood awards for art, but it was in 2015 he began displaying art at the Manitou Art Center and various art exhibits in the Pikes Peak Region.
Today, he is active in his church where he leads worship music and other creative adventures alongside his wife, Kathleen. They are blessed with a 104-year-old Craftsman home, a goldfish pond, a greenhouse, a family Chinese Shar-Pei named Dottie, and a gaggle of chickens out on the high plains of Colorado. “Life is perfect like this,” he often states.