In memoriam: Mary E. Fowkes, MD, PhD

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In her profile as candidate for the Board, Dr. Fowkes wrote: “If we do not protect our autopsies . . . we put our patients and our profession at risk. We need to embrace what we do and do it well, rather than let others take this essential tool for patient safety away from us.”

CAP secretary-treasurer Richard R. Gomez, MD, medical director, Baylor Scott & White Health, Dallas, met Dr. Fowkes in 2004 when they began serving together on the FSAC. “She became a close friend to me and my wife, Patsy,” says Dr. Gomez, who recalls her as “fun, energetic, knowledgeable, and a great listener” and as someone who liked adventure.

“I didn’t know her before then, but my wife, Patsy, and I certainly were positively affected by knowing her, and my life is better because of it.”

Dr. Gomez says Dr. Fowkes contributed to the diversity of practice on the Board of Governors. “She brought a sense of how it was working in the trenches in New York City, in her position, how hard and stressful it was sometimes, and what the Board and the CAP can do to help individuals in those situations.”

Wayne L. Garrett, DO, a member of the CAP Foundation Board of Directors who practices general surgical and cytopathology as a locum tenens pathologist, worked with Dr. Fowkes for 17 years on advocacy issues during terms on the FSAC and the CAP Political Action Committee. He says he was most struck by her “willingness to roll up her sleeves and do anything. She was one of those people you could always count on. If you had a project, you could call on Mary and she would help.”

Dr. Knight treasures the opportunity the CAP provides to meet and form friendships with others of diverse backgrounds. “I’m from the Deep South, and Mary was from New York, and on the face of it our backgrounds were very different,” she says. “But we found our commonalities in our commitment to this profession and in our experiences as moms.”

Dr. Fowkes often brought her daughter to CAP meetings, Dr. Knight says, and pre-pandemic she enjoyed visiting her son in Malta. “She tried to persuade me that we were all going and that we were going to retire to Malta, which sounded pretty fabulous to me. And I had hopes we were going to get there at some point together.”

“Everybody is special in their own way,” Dr. Gomez says. “Mary was special in many ways—as a physician, a mother, a friend, and a colleague. The world, not just the CAP, will miss her.”

“I hope she will be remembered as a truly terrific mom and a truly passionate professional,” Dr. Knight says.

In addition to her son and daughter, Dr. Fowkes is survived by her mother, two brothers, a sister-in-law, and a daughter-in-law.

—Amy Carpenter Aquino