Julius "Earl" Towery

TOWERY, Julius “Earl”, 82, of Buckeye, AZ, formerly of St. Petersburg and Bradenton, FL, passed away peacefully on June 25, 2023, under Hospice care. He hoped to beat the odds, trying to recover from TAVR heart surgery, a pacemaker implant, hemorrhagic stroke, and staph infection, but it was not to be. He managed to avoid the Plague of the 21st Century, COVID, and he survived colon cancer in 2021. But he could not survive all the other issues that started in May this year, causing his death.

Earl was born in Ft. Valley, GA, to Julius Arnold Towery and Grace Florence Thornell Thomas. He attended Sumner High School in Greensboro, NC. After graduation, Earl served in the U.S. Navy for four years, followed by two years in the Naval Reserve.

He married Patricia “Ellen” Wyrick in Greensboro, NC, in February 1963. After their marriage, they relocated to Sarasota, FL, where Earl graduated from Ringling School of Art & Design and got his first job in the art department at the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Ellen and Earl welcomed son Christopher into their lives in February 1973.

Unfortunately, Ellen passed away in April 1976, leaving Earl a single Dad now living in St. Petersburg and working for the St. Petersburg Times (currently Tampa Bay Times.) At the Times in April 1978, Earl met the love of his life (as he liked to call her) and second wife, Lynda, in an elevator heading to their respective floors to start their work day. He worked in the art department, and she worked in the executive offices four floors above.

Like the famous movie line goes, Earl “had her at hello,” and that chance meeting began 45 years of enduring love: a compromise-based partnership, friendship, and beautiful marriage for them both. He was always her “Prince Charming.” With careful planning, Earl and Lynda retired on the same day in 2003, walking out the door together after they each spent more than 30 years at the Times.

Earl always joked he was afraid he’d be hit by a truck before he could retire, but he finally made it. From there, he and Lynda spent another wonderful 20 years together. The last 10 years were spent in the Sonoran Desert in Buckeye, enjoying all of the friends and amenities offered by the 55+ Sun City Festival community.

The couple embraced the desert life, and they laughed when folks complained about the heat. Earl loved the heat, as rheumatoid arthritis later in life made him very cold natured. They were fortunate to make an entirely new circle of friends in Arizona, spending many fun times at dinners, wine tastings, cocktail parties, and concerts.

It was a wonderful life, and Earl’s friends and neighbors in Festival will miss him, as will his deeply devoted wife, Lynda, and both of their families.

Earl was predeceased by his first wife, Patricia Ellen Wyrick Towery; father, Julius Arnold Towery; birth mother Grace Florence Thornell Thomas Towery; half-sister Wilhelmina Thomas Whaley; half-brother John L. Thomas; and his much-loved stepmother, Arie Belle Edwards Towery, who helped raise Earl after his birth mother left him at age 7.

Earl is survived by his wife Lynda Ann Aters Towery of Buckeye, AZ; son Christopher M. Towery (Danielle) of Gainesville, FL; stepsister Billie Ann Honeycutt Chilton (Reid) of Pleasant Garden, NC; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews across the country.

At Earl’s request, no memorial service will be held. Interment of his cremains will be private at a later date at Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg, FL.

Contributions can be made in memory of Earl to the following: Gary Sinise Foundation, a charitable veterans service organization that offers a variety of programs for wounded veterans of the military, at garysinisefoundation.org/donate or by mail to P.O. Box 40726, Nashville, TN 37204 or to the wonderful folks who took care of Earl during his last hours at Hospice of the Valley, at hov.org/donate/ or by mail to 1510 E. Flower Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014.