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Thank you for your support of the Colonel Bobby A. Towery Final Mile Scholarship endowment, which will provide assistance to senior Army ROTC cadets with financial need, helping them complete their degrees and receive their commissions.
Your gift helps continue Col. Towery's life mission: serving others with love.
The late Col. Bobby Towery, 59, ran his final mile on Oct. 26, 2019, like he lived his life: supporting and encouraging others.
Towery, of Oxford, died of a heart attack hours after finishing the eight-mile Chucky Mullins Great 38 Race, raising funds to help students with physical disabilities attend the University of Mississippi.
Now, the Colonel Bobby A. Towery Final Mile Scholarship Endowment will extend his life’s work, which was to make a difference in the lives of others. His mom, Kaye Bryant, made a $100,000 gift to establish the scholarship, which will provide assistance to senior Army ROTC cadets with financial need, helping them complete their degrees and receive their commissions.
The entire Towery family and Col. Towery’s many friends around the world have united around the effort to increase the scholarship endowment in his name, and they invite you to contribute to the cause.
“When my father taught ROTC at the University of Mississippi in the early 90s, he saw too many senior-year ROTC Cadets drop out due to unexpected financial hardship,” said Capt. Patrick Towery, his oldest son and a retired Army aviator. “Many of us personally know former ROTC students who either dropped out or were heavily burdened while trying to finish the final mile to earn a commission into the military. Now, we can all give to a scholarship that will provide immediate financial relief to those scholar-warriors.”
The Colonel Bobby A. Towery Final Mile Scholarship will have a tremendous impact on the Army ROTC program by providing senior cadets financial relief if funding from the Army runs out. In addition, it will provide relief for non-scholarship cadets who run into financial deficits as part of independently funding their own education.
Towery was commissioned as a U.S. Army Armor second lieutenant in 1983 from UM, where he was a distinguished military graduate. A 30-year veteran with a decorated career, Towery is described as a “soldier’s soldier,” a “servant leader” and a “compassionate mentor” by those who knew him well.
Retired Lt. Col. Dameion Logan, of San Antonio, Texas, who was an Ole Miss football player and received his commission as a second lieutenant of armor, said Towery not only “religiously emphasized ‘always’ cross the finish line strongly, but he also was remarkable in assisting those who needed help getting there.”
Logan, who counts himself among those people, recounted Towery’s impact on his life.
“He was much more than an ROTC instructor to this little kid from North Little Rock, Arkansas, who needed to be much more than just another number if I were ever going to make it out of Ole Miss,” he said. “Not only was I a cadet but also a student-athlete. Balancing multiple extracurricular programs while maintaining the responsibility of academics was not an easy task.
“My goal was to graduate college and become an officer in the U.S. Army but there were many days that I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then-Captain Towery saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself – worth!”
As Towery began to shape Logan’s mindset and encourage him, their relationship grew into something much stronger than a typical teacher-student relationship. Towery became a mentor, confidant and father figure to the young cadet.
“I know for certain that my successes in life have a lot to do with the love, care and commitment of one Bobby A. Towery,” Logan said.
A 2003 photograph of Towery that appeared in the media, including on CBS News, speaks volumes about the person he was. In the image, he kneels beside two Iraqi girls and their family’s sheep herd. After this act of compassion, Towery and his soldiers routed their convoy around the herd as they continued on their mission.
Lisa Carver Towery, his wife of 37 years, said her husband lived by two Bible verses: “Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14) and “Here am I, send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Bobby Towery taught Sunday school classes, served in his church, coached soccer and baseball, and was a volunteer booster.
Towery would be humbled and thrilled to know about the scholarship, his wife said.
“I would hope people who receive this scholarship will know it was possible because of a pay-it-forward kind of guy,” she said.
Dr. Nathan Towery, his younger son, said, “The word I would use to describe his leadership style is ‘present.’ He wasn’t leading from a distance – he was there. Even though he’s gone, I still feel him. He’s still present.”
Towery was an assistant professor of military science at Ole Miss for four years, earning an additional master’s degree during this time. He founded the Ole Miss Army ROTC Alumni Board and served as its president. A scholarship endowment started by this group and receiving a gift 
from Towery himself will be combined with the Towery Final Mile Scholarship Endowment.
Retired Brig. Gen. David Smith, of Oxford, an alumni board member who was commissioned with Towery in 1983, said, “We’ve been trying to raise money for need-based assistance since 1995. This gift is a huge step forward, and we’re very excited and grateful to Bobby’s family.”
Col. Towery’s friends, family and former fellow soldiers invite the entire Ole Miss community to support our Ole Miss cadets and make a contribution to the scholarship endowment.
By working together, our gifts can make an impact in the lives of those who will one day raise their right hand to volunteer in defense of our nation. Every gift of any size makes that difference for those young men and women who so bravely say: “Here am I, send me.”
Bobby and Lisa Towery are lifelong Ole Miss fans. Once the Towerys were able to settle back in Oxford, they were regulars at football games, baseball games, basketball games, the Grove and just about any other Rebels athletic events.
As every member of the University of Mississippi family knows, we celebrate #38 and the legacy of Chucky Mullins, the football player who was paralyzed in a catastrophic on-field accident in 1989. Mullins died two years later, but in that short time, he inspired everyone with his grit, determination and spirit. Every year, runners in Oxford participate in The Great 38, a race honoring Mullins and raising money for disabled students at Ole Miss. Bobby Towery was an avid runner who participated in the Great 38 in 2019, completing the eight-mile run before he suffered a heart attack. He died shortly after the race at the age of 59.
"All the way" is the motto of the legendary 82nd Airborne Division, referred to as the All-American division. Col. (R) Towery spent nearly four years at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in the 82nd as the G-4 responsible for logistics and maintenance for the Division. It was here that Bobby gained a passion for jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. At times in the Towery living room, Lisa would don parachute gear while Bobby performed JMPIs in while studying to become a Jumpmaster.
Currently, 125 cadets are enrolled in the Army ROTC program at the University of Mississippi. Known as the Magnolia Battalion, Ole Miss Army ROTC has consistently been ranked as one the top-performing programs in the nation.
In the early dawn hours of March 20, 2003, then-Lt. Col. Bobby Towery crossed the berm into Iraq leading 3rd Forward Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division on the Thunder Run to Baghdad. Being a part of 3rd FSB during that time was one of the most important things that happened to the Towery family, and we will always be in the "Rock of the Marne."
Bobby took command of Delta Company at Fort Polk, Louisiana, as well as Headquarters and Headquarters Company of 3/70 Armor Battalion in 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized). Fifth MECH earned the special designation of "Red Devils" in World War I and identified themselves with a red diamond as a symbol of strength. Bobby's father gave Lisa a ring he made with five red diamonds to recognize his son being a part of that unit. Fort Polk is also where the Towerys' first son, Patrick, was born.
So many people all around Mississippi, the United States and even the world loved and respected Col. Bobby Towery. This project, which invites thousands of people to give to a common cause we all care about that will directly benefit Ole Miss students, is exactly why Ignite Ole Miss exists. Over the years, the Ole Miss family has made more than 12,000 gifts to the projects they care about on Ignite Ole Miss, giving anywhere from $5 to even $50,000. We all make a bigger impact together!