Reverberations of Jim Fowler’s death reached the city council chambers last night.

Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis extended his condolences to the family a night after Fowler drowned after skating into open water behind his home on Marsh Lake.

“He was beloved by all who knew him,” said Curtis, reflecting on Fowler’s significant contributions to the Yukon hockey community.

Fowler was also a cherished family man, said daughter-in-law Andrea Simpson-Fowler.

Speaking with the Star this morning, she said Fowler was an excellent family man, a hunter and a naturalist.

“He was a poet and a writer,” said Simpson-Fowler through tears. “He was just a leader, a man’s man.

“He fell in love with the Yukon. His kids spent their summers helping out on the woodlot.”

Fowler instilled a love for the outdoors in his family that left a lasting impression.

“If you were lost in the wilderness, you would want to be with a Fowler. They would help you survive.”

On Sunday night, Fowler left his home he built in the Judas Creek subdivision for a skate on the lake.

He told his wife, Jacquelin, he would be home a couple of hours later, but never returned.

“Jacquie just couldn’t keep him in that night. He just needed to go and skate under the stars.”

Despite his various hockey accolades, Fowler was humble and rarely spoke about them.

The first hockey coach in the Yukon to achieve Level 5 certification, he also developed a hockey school for novice players which he ran for two decades.

In 1974, he was one of 16 coaches from Canada to attend the Team Canada-Russia hockey series in the former U.S.S.R.

Doug Graham, minister of health for the Yukon, was the Fowlers’ neighbour when they lived in Porter Creek.

He played for Fowler as a 15-year-old, travelling to Alaska for a variety of tournaments.

“It was a real interesting time, because we’d never had a coach like that before, who had played at the level that he had played at,” said Graham.

“He was a guy that you wanted to work hard for and do your best for just because you were impressed by him.

“We watched him play in the senior league in Whitehorse, so you’d see him play and realize how good he was. He was the best in the city. There was no doubt about it.”

Behind the bench, he was a constant teacher, sharing his knowledge of the game with his young players.

“He had all this hockey knowledge and he related really well to kids, too.”

Several players went on to play hockey at a very high level, said Graham, in large part due to Fowler’s hockey instruction.

His death is a tragedy, said Graham.

“He was bigger than life,” he said. “It’s just such a tragedy.”

With files by Stephanie Waddell