Eva Mary Fowler

Eva M. Fowler, 96, passed away on April 6, 2025, in Yelm, Washington. She was born at home on May 9, 1928, at Ft. Jones, California. She was the fifth child out of seven children born to Manuel and Mary Santos.

She graduated from Ft. Jones High School and worked at the Ft. Jones Drugstore behind the soda fountain where she met Ray Fowler. They married March 16, 1952, but divorced June, 1972. They had three children. In late 1956, the family relocated to Tacoma, Washington.

Eva was a member of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, St. Rits’s Catholic Church and later in life St. Andrews in Sumner, WA. She also was an active member of the South Tacoma Eagles Auxiliary and later the Puyallup Eagles Auxiliary.

Eva worked as a waitress starting in 1968 at Pacific Bowling Lanes in Tacoma, where she also worked as a daycare provider for the bowling mothers. She also worked at J.C. Penney’s café, Tower Lanes and Maxey’s restaurant on So. Tacoma Way.

She loved to square dance and round dance. She bowled in several leagues at Pacific Lanes in Tacoma. She continued her love of dancing at the Eagles where she danced ballroom and swing. She was a collector of refrigerator magnets which covered the front of her fridge to the delight of her grandchildren.

Eva is survived by her children, Marilyn (Fowler) Whitfeldt and Daniel Fowler; 4 grandchildren; 5 great grandchildren; 4 great, great grandchildren; 6 nieces, 2 nephews and many great and grand nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her first born son, Ernest Ray; her brothers, John, Fred, Joe; her sisters, Hilda, Gloria and Lenora; and her niece, Jeanie.

For the past two years, Eva lived in memory care facilities in Olympia and Yelm . Memorial contributions may be made in her honor to the Dementia Society of America.