Hugh Lee Fowler graduated from Athens High School in 1942, and received an A.B. in Journalism from the University of Georgia, where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.

His service included flying 26 missions over Japan, as right blister gunner. Crew 48's B-29 was named ''City of Athens,'' after his hometown of Athens, GA.

In 1952, he founded Fowler Products Company, Inc., which became the world's largest remanufacturer of soft drink bottling equipment. He served as its president and CEO until 1973.

In the 1970s and 1980s he was engaged in numerous business and real estate ventures in Athens and elsewhere. He was a founding director of Athens Bank and Trust Company, and was responsible for the early restoration of the Franklin House in downtown Athens, which he bought in 1977. Most recently he was a partner in the Market Place of Athens and Columbia, SC

Hugh Fowler was a charter member of the UGA President's Club and the Cornerstone Society of Athens Regional Medical Center, and a member of the Athens City Club.

Morgan P. ''Bucky'' Redwine, who grew up with Fowler and had several business associations with him, said, ''Hugh was an adventurous person in business. He was a risk-taker and a successful one.''

Redwine, who flew a P-51 fighter during the war, recalled an unscheduled visit with Fowler when Redwine was stationed at Iwo Jima and Fowler was flying missions to Japan from the Mariana Islands.

''As I remember one night Hugh's plane was running low on fuel and landed at our base,'' Redwine said. ''I got to visit with him on his B-29. That was the highlight of my stay, getting to see Hugh and swap yarns about how dangerous it was and how many narrow escapes we had.''

Hugh's family consisted of his wife of 49 years Ann; his daughters, Betty Alice, Frances Ruth, and Mary Ann; a son, Lee M. Fowler of Columbia, S.C.; five grandchildren, Andrea Lee, Hugh Lee, Jamie Whatley, John R, Stuart Magill.