Son of Josephine and Oscar Tower, John was born on the 21stof August in 1912, one of two children. He was predeceased by his sister Eleanor, his son John Bernard Tower, his wife Grace Roos Tower and his dear friends Rafi Zeinelpour and Freeman Baldridge.
At high school he excelled on the track and set the state record for the mile run which remained for 25 years. He received a full scholarship to the Colorado School of Mines where he graduated in 1935 with a degree in Petroleum Engineering.
He served in the Army Air Corps from 1940 to 1948. Having wed his wife in June of 1941 whom he met whilst stationed in San Antonio, he recalled receiving the news of what happened that December and would go on to serve as a Transport Pilot in the Mediterranean. John and Grace stayed abroad after WWII as part of the Army of Occupation in Germany. There, they welcomed their first child Jane.
They returned home and settled in Texas, where they raised a further four children, John, Steve, Regan and Angela with the ever valued support of Lola Lee Bonner.
In Dallas John continued his work as a Petroleum Engineer for the Energy Information Service, which he reluctantly retired from at the age of 97, after 37 years of faithful employment.
He had a love of reading both books and newspapers and much appreciated the writing of Jacquielynn Floyd of this newspaper. He shared a devotion to the arts with his wife, who both enjoyed the Dallas Opera season each year. His curiosity did not wane with age and he would always go to the literature when perplexed by the world. Answers and the pursuit of those answers was a lifelong commitment that earned him a reputation as not only an intellectual, but a talented conversationalist. Known by many as ‘Uncle Russ’, his life and how he lived it is as a sterling example to the many friends and family members he embraced. He was ever caring for those he loved and for this and so much more, will be dearly missed.
The family would like to thank those who cared for our beloved John in his final years.
Visitation will be Thursday, December 21st from 10am to 1pm at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home, 7405 W. Northwest Highway, Dallas. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 2pm Thursday, December 21st at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 3811 Oak Lawn Ave, Dallas. Burial will be 11:30am, Saturday, December 23rd at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.
Memorial contributions can be made to Catholic Relief Services at www.crs.org
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