Laurance Fowler; Longtime San Fernando Valley Journalist

Laurance “Larry” Fowler, a demanding but passionate newsman at the old Valley News and Greensheet, has died at 88.

Fowler worked at the paper, which became the Daily News of Los Angeles, from 1954 to 1977, retiring as managing editor.

“He stressed accuracy and service to the public--all the good things a newspaperman ought to be,” said Daily News systems editor Richard Handt.

Mike Wyma, assistant Metro copy chief at The Times, who worked with Fowler at the Daily News, remembered him as the unquestioned ruler of the newsroom.

“Anything remotely important had to go by him, and a line of editors and writers would form at his desk every night,” Wyma said. “The line moved slowly, because he always had suggestions. But they were invariably good, and somehow he made deadline.”

Hired as city editor in 1954, Fowler presided over the expansion of the paper’s coverage beyond the Valley to City Hall and other areas, said Rick Quist, executive news editor at the Daily News.

Frances Esther Fowler, 89, said retirement “just about killed” her husband. “He wasn’t the same after that. He lost his love for life.”

A USC graduate, he served as a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during World War II, flying 34 missions over Germany, she said.

Fowler, who asked that no funeral be held, died Monday at a care facility in Canoga Park. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter and two grandsons.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Assn.