Richard M. Fowler, long-time teacher at the Lehi High School, died Monday evening, December 31, 1979, at the Utah Valley Hospital following a long illness.  Funeral services will be conducted Saturday, January 5, at 11 a.m. in the Lehi Fifth-Ninth Ward Chapel.  Friends may call at the Wing Mortuary from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday evening and for one hour prior to services Saturday.  Interment will be in the Lehi City Cemetery.

    He was born June 29, 1934, in Lehi to Milan Pearce and Ila Spencer Fowler.  He attended the Lehi schools, graduating from Lehi High School in 1952.  He enjoyed sports and was a member of the school baseball team.  He attended Utah State University for two years and graduated from BYU with a BA in education.  Following graduation he taught for one year at Farrer Jr. High School in Provo and from then until 1978 he taught mathematics and in the learning disabilities area at Lehi High School.  He was a member of the AUE, UEA and NEA.  He was a devoted and dedicatd teacher and enjoyed working with Lehi High students.  He was a former member of the Lehi Lions Club.

    He served a mission to Finland, where he was branch president.  At the time of his death he held the office of high priest and was ward financial clerk in the Ninth Ward, a position he held since the ward was organized.  Prior to that time he held the same position in the Fifth Ward.  He also had been the stake athletic director, a Sunday School teacher, a home teacher, and Aaronic Priesthood general secretary.  He enjoyed sports and played church softball and basketball.  While on his mission he was interpreter for the BYU track team when they toured Finland.

    He married Beverly Farr of Pleasant Grove on July 1, 1959, in the Salt Lake Temple.  They have one daughter, Michelle, 12.  He is survived by his wife, daughter and parents of Lehi; two sisters, Mrs. Randy (Madge) Bryson, Lehi; and Mrs. Neil (Lois) Christensen, American Fork.