Before coming to work for Walt Disney, Joe Fowler had served in two world wars. He met dignitaries like Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson and Edward, Prince of Wales. He retired from the United States Navy after thirty five years of service. He had already accomplished enough for a single lifetime, but Admiral Joe Fowler was just getting started. For an encore, he would help create both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, earning himself a position as a Disney Legend.
Here are 10 key moments in the life of the man who built the Disney parks.
1. Annapolis
Fowler, who was born in 1894, attended the United States Naval Academy. He graduated in 1917, ranked second in his class.
2. World War I
After graduating from the Naval Academy, Fowler served in World War I. During his time in the “Great War” Fowler worked as a navigator on submarine patrol-duty.
3. MIT
After World War I, Fowler attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned a master’s degree in naval architecture. He put the degree to use building gunboats in Shanghai and later supervised submarine construction at the Portsmouth Naval Yard in the United States.
4. Saratoga and Lexington
Fowler worked on the design and construction of the U.S.S. Saratoga and the U.S.S. Lexington. The Saratoga went on to participate in the Battle of Iwo Jima, while the Lexington participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
5. Retirement
In 1948, Fowler retired from the Navy. Four years later, President Truman appointed him civilian director of the Federal Supply Management Agency, a position that earned him congressional praise.
6. Disneyland
Walt Disney hired Fowler to lead the construction of the Disneyland Park. He became known as Mister “Can Do” for his willingness to make any project work, no matter how difficult. Disney Legend Bob Matheison once recalled that during the park’s construction, “Walt turned to Joe and said, ‘I’d like to part the water and let the entertainers come out, and then have the waterfall close behind them.’ Joe never batted an eye. He just said, ‘Can do, can do.’ I know he had no idea how he was going to part the water, but he said it without hesitation—’Can do.’ And, by golly, he did it.”
Fowler kept the construction operating on time, completing the work in one year.
7. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Fowler served as the technical advisor for the 1954 live action Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
8. Walt Disney World
During the 1960s and 70s, Fowler worked on the “Florida Project” that later became the Walt Disney World Resort. He traveled to Florida scouting out land and, according to his D23 Disney Legends biography he, “held three posts, simultaneously: senior vice president, engineering and construction, for Walt Disney Productions; chairman of the board of WED Enterprises, now known as Walt Disney Imagineering; and director of construction for Disney’s Buena Vista Construction Company.”
9. Admiral Joe Fowler
A day after the Walt Disney World park opened in 1971, a paddle boat named the Admiral Joe Fowler opened on the Rivers of America. The boat remained in service until 1980, when it was damaged beyond repair during an attempted refurbishment.
10. Disney Retirement
Fowler retired from Disney in 1978 and was named a Disney Legend 12 years later.
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