'Caroline County is really gonna miss him'

HOBBS – Bill Towers, well-known local businessman and philanthropist, passed away at home Monday, May 12, surrounded by his loving family. He was 77.

Born Jan. 20, 1948, in Easton, William Roland Towers Jr. was the son of William R. Towers Sr. and Norma Lee Morgan Towers. He lived in Hobbs his entire life and was the eldest of four sons, which included Thomas, Daniel and Jefferson.

He graduated in 1966 from North Caroline High School, where he met Gail, his high school sweetheart, best friend and wife of 56 years. Towers was the second-generation owner and operator of Towers Concrete Products, Inc.

Friends and family remember him as a hard-working man of deep faith and generosity. His family says he will always be known for his “strong and quiet presence.”

Chris Breeding of Bob Breeding General Contractors worked with Towers and knew him well “for many, many years” both professionally and as a fellow member of Temple Lodge #128 A.F. & A.M., of which Towers was a Past Master.

“He was an excellent businessman,” and regularly rose at 3 a.m. to begin his workday, Breeding said. He added that he and his father Bob “worked with his dad when it was Towers Concrete. We bought all our concrete off of them.” The Towers family noted that “if he was making a deal, he had the integrity for a handshake, and that was it. He didn’t need papers, he didn’t need contracts, all he needed was a handshake.”

Towers’ work ethic was legendary, said Kay and Tommy Wheatley, who knew him and Gail for 60 years and whose children all grew up together. "He was a hard worker,” they said. “He went to bed early. He got up early.”

“I think he's been a great asset to Caroline County,” Kay Wheatley said. “He has supported a lot of groups … (and) he's done a wonderful job, and I think Caroline County is really gonna miss him."

“Bill had high morals (and he was) honest – they don’t make them like that anymore,” Breeding said.

Bill Towers’ youngest brother Jeff said his big brother “was always there.” Tom Towers said simply, “He was a good guy.”

“He was always a straight shooter” and “down to earth,” Jeff Towers said. “There was never any foolishness with him.”

“Most important to him is probably family,” he said. “Family and work were pretty much everything that he did.”

Dan Towers said his big brother was “a good one” and “an incredibly hard worker” who was generous with his time and money, often giving or lending cash to individuals in need.

Besides being an active member of Ames Methodist Church in Hobbs his entire life, he and Gail hosted tent revivals at the Museum.

Towers was “very involved with a lot of different organizations and donated to a lot of different youth groups,” Breeding said.

One of the organizations supported by the Towers family is Compass Regional Hospice. They hosted the organization’s Festival of Trees at the Towers Family Museum next to their home in Hobbs for a decade, according to Compass CEO Heather Guerieri.

“The Towers family has always been so supportive of hospice,” including the Caroline Hospice Foundation, which was folded into Compass, based in Centreville, Guerieri said. “And the best way they found to do so … was to (host) the Festival of Trees,” a major fundraiser that raised tens of thousands of dollars for Compass Hospice.

Guerieri said Bill and Gail Towers have been “just so gracious, because not only do they financially support (Compass Hospice), but my goodness, that’s their home, that's their property,” with people delivering and setting up trees the week before the weekend festival.

“If they could make men like that nowadays, nonprofits in the whole world would be just such a better place,” she said.

Towers also enjoyed his involvement with the Chesapeake Walk to Emmaus community, antique tractor clubs and the regional bluegrass music community. He was an avid collector of antiques and enjoyed sharing his collection displayed in the Towers Family Historical Museum. "He loved his John Deere tractors" and took them to all the local fairs, Kay Wheatley said.

“I can't actually say enough great things about Mr. Towers,” Guerieri said as her voice broke and her eyes filled with tears. “He is just a very stellar example of a philanthropist – a kind, gentle soul and a giver for Caroline County and beyond.”

"I hope that somebody will continue with the community service that he did,” Dan Towers said. “(Bill) was always very generous with his time and with his money, and I hope people will continue to think about that and continue to give back to the community."

Bill Towers enjoyed spending time with his daughters Michele Bodine and Julia McNeil, and his son in-law Garry Bodine; his grandchildren Brody (Natalie), Landen (Alexandria), Bailey, Michaela, Michael, Georgia and Jude; and his great-grandchildren Colton and Owen. They all brought him much joy.

“It's gonna be tough on all of us, but with (the grandchildren) in particular – they just lived around him, so it's going to be difficult,” Dan Towers said.

As far as what was important to Towers, his family says “God, family, and community” — in that order. According to his immediate family, he was “the head and the rock of the family” and he “meant the world” to them.