TVPPA recently learned of the 2018 passing of former TVPPA Chairman William D. Towers.

Towers was general manager at Holston EC, Rogersville, TN, when he was elected chairman at the 1980 Annual Conference. He served as the cooperative’s chief executive for 27 years, retiring in February 1982. Towers also served as chairman of the Tennessee Electric Cooperatives Association and as president of the American Nuclear Society.

Towers served during World War II as a U.S. Navy frogman, attached to a Special Forces Underwater Demolition Team and the Naval Combat Demolition Unit. He later helped establish the U.S. Navy Seal Museum located in Fort Pierce, FL. Upon his death, his remains were cremated and buried at sea by Navy SEALs in November 2018.