Robert Lindley Towery

1932 - 2010

Robert Lindley Towery, 78, devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, teammate and friend, went to sleep with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Friday, Oct. 29, 2010. Service: Mass of Christian Burial 1 p.m. Wednesday at St. Andrew Catholic Church. Interment: Greenwood Mausoleum. Visitation: 5 p.m. Tuesday at Thompson's Harveson and Cole Funeral Home. Robert's friends and former teammates will eulogize him and bid him goodbye at a vigil beginning at 6 p.m. Honorary pallbearers: The "Third Tuesday Railhead Baseball Crew" and friends. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the SPCA of Texas, 362 Riverfront Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75207 or Covenant Hospice, 3221 Collinsworth St., #160, Fort Worth, Texas 76107. Robert was born Sept. 19, 1932, at All-Saints Hospital in Fort Worth. He was the second son of Roy E. and Ethel Cannon Towery, who each predeceased him. He was also preceded in death by his older brother, Wendel R. Towery, and eldest son, Brett R. Towery. An All-District quarterback and valedictorian for his class, Robert was president of the student body at Paschal High School. He was an All-State short-stop for the Paschal Baseball Team that went to the state finals in 1949 and the next year, 1950, he played on Paschal's last state championship baseball team. It was at Paschal where Jacque Hogan and Robert first met. Upon graduation, Jacque went to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Robert attended the University of Texas at Austin where he lettered three years in baseball. He was named All-Conference as a second baseman in 1954 on the All-Southwest Conference Team. Later after graduation from law school at the University of Texas, he began his legal career in the district attorney's office in Austin in 1958. This began a highly successful career as an attorney. He continued his career in various administrative positions, mostly with the state of Texas or with the State Bar of Texas. Robert was primarily responsible for the formation and organization of the Legal Assistance Division of the State Bar of Texas, which at that time was the only such organization approved by the legal community in any state in the country. Recognized for his contribution to the paralegal profession in Texas in 1981 remained an honor he cherished dearly. Robert and Jacque each attended the 40th reunion of the 1951 Paschal High School graduation class and saw each other for the first time since high school. Robert had long planned to move back to Fort Worth. There Jacque and Robert renewed their friendship from high school days. After several years of "getting to know each other" again, Robert and Jacque decided to become life partners. Early in their life together, Jacque gave Robert a card expressing how she felt about him and Robert soon realized that it expressed exactly his feelings for Jacque. They leave the words to all their friends: "Across the years I will walk with you - in deep green forest; on shores of sand, and when our time on earth is through, in Heaven, too, you will have my hand." The family wishes to give special thanks to all of his doctors and nurses, Dr. Alan Davenport, Dr. Stuart McDonald, Dr. Asad Dean, Dr. David Corley, Dr. Scott Miller, Illa, Tonya, Idelia, Alba, Phil and Chistina. Survivors: Beloved and caring wife, Jacque; daughter, Brenda Shay and Bill Kellas; son, Clay Towery and his wife, Stephanie; daughter, Robyn Trippe and her husband, Dr. Karl Trippe; precious granddaughters, Rachel, Jessica, Rebecca and Hannah Trippe; Jacque's children, Ellyn Corley, Charissa Christopher and her husband, Mike, Dr. David Corley and his wife, Dayna, and Valerie Petrie and her husband, Danny; 13 grandchildren; he will be doubly missed by his podners, the "Third Tuesday Railhead Baseball Crew."