The Reverend Lewis Wilson Towler died peacefully at the age of 98 on January 30 in Chelsea, Michigan, with family by his side.
An Episcopal priest who served churches on the East coast and in the Midwest, Lew was devoted to his three daughters and two grandchildren and passionate in his love for literature, music, opera, and the performing arts. His Great Pyrenees dogs were another love, most recently his faithful companion Luna.
Lew was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 21,1925, the son of John and Dorothy (Wilson) Towler and brother of Betty Jean (Towler) Kline, who predeceases him. A veteran of World War II, Lew served in the Seabees in the South Pacific, where he returned in 2013 with Bent Prop, a group that searches for the remains of MIAs and downed planes. He joined the trip as chaplain on their annual mission and visited the beachhead on the island of Peleliu where he and fellow Seabees went ashore in the 1944 invasion.
Following his military service, Lew earned his A.B. and B.A. (bachelors and masters) degrees from the University of Michigan in English literature and comparative literature. He spent a year of his graduate studies in Heidelberg, Germany, a cherished memory he often recounted. He was a member of Sigma Phi and kept in touch with fraternity brothers to the end of his life. He attended Union Theological Seminary and completed his Masters in Divinity degree at Virginia Theological Seminary in 1955. He was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1956 in Pontiac, Michigan.
Lew was married in 1955 to Jane Bartlett Kellogg and served at All Saints’ Church in Pontiac and Saint Matthew’s in Saginaw, Michigan. In 1963, the family moved to New York City, where Lew was a member of the faculty at General Theological Seminary for ten years and assisted with services at Christ Church, Bronxville and the Cathedral Saint John the Divine. He later served at All Angels’ in New York.
Lew worked subsequently in the diocese of Michigan at Christ Church Cranbrook, the Episcopal Ministry at Michigan State University, St. John’s (Chesaning), and St. John’s (Plymouth). From 1989 to 1997 he served at St. Paul’s in Wickford, Rhode Island. He and his family had spent summer vacations at Quonochontaug in Rhode Island, and he was delighted to return to the Ocean State. He treasured memories of summers at “Quonnie” and visited this place that was a refuge and source of such happiness throughout his life.
Lew moved to Ann Arbor in 2000 and continued to assist with services at Saint Andrew’s in Ann Arbor and other area churches up to the age of 92. Through his associations with many churches and his work with music and theater groups, Lew made lifelong friends with whom he loved to stay in touch. This past year, at the age of 98, he sent out 75 Christmas cards to friends across the country.
Lew played the piano and organ and enjoyed playing classical pieces for friends and family. He continued to take piano and voice lessons and to perform at recitals into his nineties. He acted in community theater productions and, in 1988, in an off-off-Broadway production of Mass Appeal. Among Lew’s many interests and achievements, he was proud to have read the compete text of Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene.
Lew lived the last years of his life at the Chelsea Retirement Community, where he made many new friends and received excellent care from a staff whose compassion enriched his life and his family’s. He enjoyed reading his daily print edition of the New York Times and weekly New Yorker, often calling friends and family to read choice paragraphs to them.
Lew is survived by his beloved daughters and sons-in-law and grandchildren: Katherine (Katie) Towler and Jim Sparrell of Portsmouth, NH; Marie Towler of Topanga, CA; Leela and David Kausch of Ann Arbor, MI; Jack Kausch of London, Ontario, Canada, and Eve Kausch of Mount Vernon, OH. Additional survivors include his former wife Jane Kellogg of Hamden, CT; nieces Judith (Kline) White of Brookline, MA; Molly Gunderkline and Martha Kline of Yellow Springs, OH; nephew Johnny Kline of New York, NY; and numerous beloved grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church at 306 No. Division Street in Ann Arbor on February 17 at noon. Committal and luncheon to follow. All are welcome. For live stream of the service, go to https://standrewsaa.org/ and click link to Sunday service live stream under Virtual Worship Options. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Humane Society of Huron Valley at https://www.hshv.org/ or the Breakfast Program at St. Andrew’s at https://breakfastatstandrews.org/.
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