Melvyn Towers, 62, as a wiry youth won the 1955 state wrestling championship in the 120-pound weight division, later worked as an apprentice on an ore carrier, and oversaw a number of Chicago Park District playlots on the Southwest Side. Mr. Towers died Saturday, June 11, in Bethany Hospital, Chicago, of lung disease. He was a dedicated student athlete who every day rounded his block in the Brighton Park neighborhood many times for his morning exercise, in fair weather and foul, his family said. His fervor–and his winning record–impressed wrestling recruiters at the University of Illinois, and after graduating from Hirsch High School, which he represented in the 1955 championship, he received a four-year scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. But Mr. Towers only attended college for a short time. Restless, he left school when an opportunity arose on a Great Lakes ore carrier. “I think he just wanted a change, to try something new,” said Mr. Towers’ brother Kenneth. “He wanted to experience life, and he enjoyed it.” At the time, Mr. Towers worked as an apprentice merchant seaman on the St. Lawrence Seaway, riding a giant ship between the seaway’s wide banks. When in Chicago, Mr. Towers supervised playgrounds for the Park District. Learning from an early age the joy of winning, Mr. Towers was driven to physical endeavors and enjoyed the company of people who were likewise driven to them, be they fellow wrestlers or shipmates, his brother said. During his later years, Mr. Towers had been a resident of the Clark Manor Convalescent Home on the North Side. Mr. Towers is also survived by two other brothers, Donald and Thomas; four sisters, Elaine Valles Key, Joyce Burke, Pamela and Deborah. A funeral mass was said Tuesday.
