Mrs. Towry was born in Mount Vernon, Texas, on Nov. 27, 1929. She was the third of three children born to Mr. F.M. Anderson and his wife Allie Townsend Anderson. She was a bright young woman and graduated a year early from her high school where she played forward on the Texas State Championship Basketball team.

     After graduation, she went to beauty school where she met a lanky, handsome, Marine Corps veteran, Howard O. Towry. They married in January of 1947. After one tour in the Navy, Mr. Towry joined the Air Force and took his wife and two young children, Margaret and Barbara, to Runcorn, in Northern England where they served for three years. Mrs. Towry had the opportunity to travel extensively on the European continent. She looked just like a Hollywood movie star. Beautiful.

     They were stationed to San Antonio where her youngest child, Toni, was born. She had just settled into a beautiful new house when Mr. Towry, courtesy of the USAF, was stationed back to England for another tour. Mrs. Towry and her three babies set up housekeeping in Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, about 20 miles north of London. She and her family thrived in this little town. They joined the local tennis club and both she and Mr. Towry became avid players and fans. Their next-door neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Cook. Mr. Cook was a professional football player and introduced them to the wonderful world of English football. They had a blast.

     After four years, Mr. Towry was stationed to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. They joined SunKist CC where Mrs. Towry became enamored of golf and the rest is history. She and her golf buddies traveled to all the courses in the area and indulged in some heavy competition. Mrs. Towry was a strict perfectionist and a natural athlete and it was no surprise when she became a very good golfer. She was the only one in her group with her own putting green in her back yard. Very good putter.

     In the early 1980’s Mr. Towry, having retired, decided to use his veteran’s benefits and enrolled at USM. They moved to Hattiesburg, played the local courses and managed an apartment complex for their daughter Barbara. This is when Mrs. Towry decided to become a LPGA professional.

     In 1990 they bought some acreage at the corner of 51 Hwy and Fernwood Road and thus Oak Ridge golf course was born.

     Mrs. and Mr. Towry brought something special to Pike County – a place where young people and beginners of all ages could learn the golf swing and the rules of the game.

     Mrs. Towry retired in 2006 with the sale of Oak Ridge and in 2009, moved to Florida to live with her daughter Barbara. On July 8, she died from complications due to Alzheimer’s Disease.

     She was greatly loved and will be sadly missed.

     Visitation will be Thursday, July 12 from 5 until 8 p.m. at Hartman-Sharkey Funeral Home in McComb and will continue on Friday from 9 until services at 10 a.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in Hollywood Cemetery. The Rev. Charles Ray will officiate.

     Mrs. Towry is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Howard O. Towry, a sister Floy Van Zant and a brother F.M. Anderson, Jr.

     She is survived by three daughters and their spouses; Margaret Nunnery and Bill of Magnolia, Barbara Matson and Bill of Florida and Toni Myer and Harold of California, two sisters; Joann McElhaney and Imogene Hicks, two grandchildren; Wil Nunnery and Makenna Myer, along with numerous other relatives, students and friends.