Bobbitt's Fotothing

Des Moines, IA - On Friday, February 9, at Deerfield Retirement Center in Urbandale, Iowa. Lewis C. Towers passed on peacefully from this earth to eternal life. A Memorial Mass was celebrated on February 13, in Iowa. Always maintaining a deep affection for Georgia, Lew specified that his cremains be interred at Savannah's Hillcrest Abbey East cemetery. A memorial service celebrating Lew's 90 years of life will be held at 11:30AM on Saturday March 31, at the cemetery, 1500 Wheaton Street, Savannah. Following the memorial service, the family will receive friends at the home of Sam and Pat Zemurray. Lew and his beloved wife, Kaye retired from Iowa in 1972 and moved to Savannah GA where they lived an active life among many friends. He was an avid gardener, who had a unique ability and talent to nurture and coax life from any plant. He shared the beauty of his gardens and his plants with family, friends and strangers across this country. They moved back to Des Moines in 1997 but maintained their many friendships in Savannah. Lew was born on August 19, 1916, in Washington, D.C. He met his future wife, Katherine (Kaye), on their first day of high school in 1930. They married in 1942 and spent the next 64 years devoted to one another. They raised two sons, Mike and Dan. Lew was educated at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. During his early years after school, he worked for the U.S. Department of Interior surveying in the mountains and deserts of the West. His survey team established the border between the States of Nevada and California. During World War II he managed defense projects for the federal government in California and Washington States. Lew's professional life was that of a peacemaker. From 1945 until his retirement in 1972, he had a distinguished career as a U.S. Commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, D.C., St. Louis, MO, and Des Moines, IA. As a Commissioner he earned the trust of top union and management leaders. For 27 years he was invited by labor and management to mediate peaceful resolution of the most difficult strikes and labor disputes. On a number of occasions he worked out of the Atlanta office of the Service, developing a partiality for Georgia resulting in the decision to retire here. Lew was preceded in death by his father, Lewis Nuckols Towers; his mother, Ivy Park Cain; his step-father, Bernard J. Cain, and his infant grandson, Benjamin Pierce Towers of Metter GA. He will be missed by the love of his life, Kaye; his sons, Michael C. (Beth) Towers of Decatur, GA, Daniel P. (Judy) Towers of Waukee, IA; his grandchildren, Matthew Towers of Seattle, WA, Jennifer (Jeff) Seese of Gilbert, AZ, Katherine (Chris) Ferren of West Des Moines, IA, Paige Adams (Marc) Rodriguez of Seattle, WA, Loree Adams Kraehe of Atlanta, GA, Michael (Lisa) Towers of Olympia, WA and eleven great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Hospice of Central Iowa which provided Lew with exceptional help in living out his final days in comfort, with dignity and peace of mind. The Hospice of Central Iowa Foundation, 401 Railroad Place, West Des Moines, IA 50265, phone (800) 806-9934. Savannah Morning News (SMN), Thursday, March 29, 2007. Please sign our Obituary Guest Book at www.SavannahNow.com or Legacy.com.