Marion Lee Fowlkes

Marion Lee Fowlkes, 77, of Kingston Springs, TN, died in Nashville, TN on August 5th, 2026.

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His spirit lives on in the many people and places he touched.

He was born in Memphis in 1949 to Jeff and Dorothy Fowlkes, the 3rd eldest of 6 brothers. Marion attended Newbern Elementary, Dyersburg Middle, and Dyersburg High Schools before studying Engineering Technology at Memphis State University. His undergraduate degree was interrupted by a 2 year tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Frankfurt, Germany. After honorable discharge he traveled across Europe, the Middle-East, India, and Nepal before returning to Memphis to finish his undergraduate studies. He married Nelda Fowlkes and relocated to Brooklyn, NY in 1975 to pursue a Master's of Architecture Degree at Pratt Institute and worked for Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects after receiving his degree. He moved to Nashville where he has lived until the present, first as an employee of Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, then as co-owner of his own architectural practice which eventually became Centric Architecture. He and Nelda built their home in Kingston Springs and welcomed their son Tipton in 1986.

Marion is survived by his wife Nelda, son Tipton, daughter-in-law Colleen, granddaughters June and Cora, and brothers Jeffrey, Robert, Bill, Zack, and Larry.

His spirit lives on in the many people and places he touched. We invite you to celebrate his life by remembering the people he loved, the places he traveled, the meals shared around a table, misty mornings in the woods, evenings by the fire with a glass of Scotch and a good dog at his feet, and, always, the good stories and great laughter.

Please join us in remembering and celebrating Marion.

Visitation will begin at 10am on Friday August 14th at St. Henry Catholic Church at 6401 Harding Pike, Nashville, TN 37205. The funeral ceremony will begin at 11am. Burial will be at 12:30pm at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens at 9090 TN-100, Nashville, TN 37221. A celebration of life with refreshments and photo-memorial will held at the Memory Garden's Indoor Pavilion following the burial.

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We invite you to celebrate his life by remembering the people he loved, the places he traveled, the meals shared around a table.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please consider making charitable donations to one of the following organizations.

St. Bernard Academy

St. Cecelia Mother House

St. Henry Church

The McCallie School

The University of TX MD Anderson Cancer Center

Boy Scouts of America Camp Mack Morris

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture Global Track Program