Brooksville man welcomed home with 110-vehicle truck convoy

After stem cell transplant, Tim Fowler given largest parade in town’s history

Tim Fowler and his wife Brenda watch the surprise convoy of trucks and other vehicles roll past their Brooksville house to welcome them home. Photo by John Boit

Sept. 28, 2026

By John Epstein and John Boit

“Whenever I thought I needed to give up, I thought of everybody back here that was fighting for me,” Tim Fowler said. Video by John Boit.

BROOKSVILLE – When word spread that Tim Fowler, a beloved and respected heavy construction contractor, was coming home this past weekend after a monthlong hospital stay in Boston for a stem cell transplant, residents from across the peninsula wanted to show some love.

“We need to give him our support,” said Matt Dow, Brooksville’s fire chief, who helped organize the spontaneous celebration for the morning of Sunday, Sept. 27.

That support materialized with a convoy of 110 vehicles – the biggest parade in Brooksville’s history, Dow said. The parade included dump trucks from local companies, fuel delivery trucks from across Hancock County, fire trucks from five towns, pickup trucks, several classic cars, a dozen utility vehicles and two tractors.

After staging that morning at Buster Peasley’s garage on Varnumville Road, the cavalcade rolled out and headed eastward on Bagaduce Road toward Fowler’s house.

Fowler and his wife Brenda, wearing masks and surgical gloves for infection prevention, watched from the side of the road near their house, surrounded by family and friends. They had returned home from Boston on Sept. 25.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Fowler, who was surrounded by 20 members of his extended family. The Fowler family goes back to at least the 19th century in this area. Fowler’s father started the family excavation business. Fowler’s two late brothers, Darryl and Mike, also worked closely with him in the business.

Fowler was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare type of blood cancer where scar tissue builds up in bone marrow and impedes the production of red blood cells. As part of his treatment, Fowler went through five days of chemotherapy “to wipe out the immune system,” Fowler’s wife said of the procedure at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“Then they have ‘transplant day,’” she said. “They come in with a bag of the donor’s stem cells. It’s just like having a blood transfusion, and they hang them up and put them in him.” 

Fowler said that while he previously “could hardly walk” he is now “getting stronger every day.”

Drivers in the passing convoy gave Fowler the thumbs up and shouted words of encouragement. 

“There’s not a nicer family on the earth,” said Josh Gray, seen here giving a hug to Tim Fowler’s wife, Brenda. Video by John Boit.

“Good luck, young man,” yelled the driver of a huge dump truck. One tractor carried a sign: “Brooksville just is not the same without you guys. Welcome back.”

“There’s not a nicer family on the earth, as far as I’m concerned, and that’s shown by all the people who turned out,” said Josh Gray, who helped organize the event. Gray stopped his dump truck mid-parade to deliver a firefighter’s boot that had been filled with donations by drivers that morning.

“That’s what we do in small towns,” Dow said. “We take care of our own…You just don’t see that in big cities.”

After the sirens and horns had faded and the last truck passed out of view, Fowler and his family remained by the edge of the road.

“I can’t believe all the people who came out to support me. It’s just overwhelming. It really is,” Fowler said.

Fowler became emotional.

“Whenever I thought I needed to give up, I thought of everybody back here that was fighting for me. I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m giving up.’ But I didn’t because I would have missed all this,” he said, gesturing to the road where the convoy had passed by.

Someone asked him what he planned to do the rest of the day. 

“Watch football,” he replied.

Well-wishers set up a sign with Christmas lights on it to welcome Tim Fowler back from his Boston medical treatment. Photo by John Boit.