GARY MARVIN FOWLIE

Gary was born on June  20, 1954, in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and passed away surrounded by family on June 30, 2026, in New York City, NY. He is predeceased by his parents Peter & Velera Fowlie (Val Power) and is remembered by: his loving wife of 44 years, Karen (Christenson), sons Liam, Luke (Chesley Walsh) & Spencer, his grandson Jasper Fowlie-Walsh, and Norali Fish, as well as his Aunt Marg Power, close cousin Janice Poulin, sisters/brother-in-law Joyce, Donna and Graham, nieces Andrea and Catherine as well as many wonderful friends, family and colleagues around the globe. 

He studied speech-language pathology and communication disorders at the University of Alberta (BSc.1976) and the University of Alabama (MS.1978). He began his career working in the rehab department of the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, SK before pursuing an interest in the relationship between communication, technology and behavioural economics at the LSE (MSc.1980). He worked as a reporter and producer for CBC News. He was a marketing and communications lead for the BC Trade Development Corp in Vancouver before joining the technology practice of Hill & Knowlton. He managed the media for the Clinton/Yeltsin Summit in 1993, the APEC summit in 1997 as well as the summit of the Americas in 2001. He then joined the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations specialized agency in Geneva, as Chief of Communications where he helped facilitate the first World Summit on the Information Society. In 2005, he took the post of Chief of Media Liaison and Accreditation for the UN headquarters in NYC and by retirement in 2017 he was the head representative of the ITU in NYC. He advocated for universal and affordable access to the internet, digital gender equality and the importance of digital literacy and critical thinking. He was especially passionate about early childhood language enrichment and the identification of the 10% of children who arrive at elementary school with language learning disorders or delays.  

He was a gardener, runner and a life-long swimmer. He loved the lake. He enjoyed baseball, biking, fishing, reading, writing and was a regular Lector at his parish. He proudly completed an unpublished novel as well as 35 notebooks from his time with the UN. A memorial mass will be held at the Holy Family Church in Manhattan and a celebration of life will be held in Canada at later dates. In lieu of flowers or gifts, a donation can be made to the Canadian or American Cancer Society. 

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