Harry Llewellyn Fowler

Harry Llewellyn Fowler (6 May 1895 – 10 August 1980) was a noted Canadian socialist organizer and key figure in the prairie co-operative movements of Saskatchewan and Western Canada from the 1930s until the 1970s.

Biography Henry "Harry" Llewellyn Fowler Fowler moved to Alberta with his family when he was a teenager. Dorothy Fowler has stated that her husband, "had a pretty tough time getting started in the world."

According to University of Victoria Professor Emeritus of History Ian MacPherson, speaking in 2009, Harry Fowler "played major roles in establishing the Co-op Refinery Complex, Co-operative Implements, Federated Co-operatives, Co-op Fisheries in Saskatchewan, the Funeral Co-op Association, the Medical Co-op in Regina, Co-op Trust, the Saskatchewan Co-op Credit Society, the Canadian Co-op Credit Society, and various local co-ops and credit unions." Writing in a 1987 history of the CCIL, Professor MacPherson describes Fowler as, "always a restless, creative leader," and as an "energetic, forceful, imaginative and somewhat iconoclastic co-operative leader," adding, "He was not as successful as a day-to-day manager, at least according to some observers, but as a type of leader necessary for the development of new co-operatives he played a vitally important role. More than any other person, he brought together the diverse elements needed to create the necessary momentum and raise the required capital." Fowler sold his house in Wilcox, moving to a rented house in Regina, and started on the refinery's payroll on January 1, 1935. Vocal during preliminary discussions about establishing the CCRL, Fowler argued that this integration would create "an integrated co-operative structure with firm local roots, rather than just an independent central refinery." Regarding the topic of farm machinery prices, Fowler echoed Mark Twain's comments about the weather: "Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it."

Memoirs Fowler dictated his memoirs from 1965 to 1966, and in 1974 the Saskatchewan Co-operative Women's Guild began efforts to publish them. They eventually formed the second part of Terry Phalen's 1977 biography, Co-operative Leadership: Henry Fowler.