From Hoops to Helper

Kevin Compton


    In an alternate universe, Steve Towler is president of the Miami Heat and Pat Riley is Boyd County Judge Executive. It could have been that way. It is a tale Towler loves to share but merely a footnote to a remarkable life.
Towler’s brush with fame comes later in his story, one that begins with his birth in Tallahassee, Florida, to Boyd County transplants. Towler’s father was an Army man who brought the family home following World War II. Towler was not yet one.     At 72, Towler has spent most of his years since in the Bluegrass.
    The Towlers ran a truck stop/restaurant on Route 60 from the mid-50s until the mid-70s. It was there Towler began work at age 11. “I was sort of a grease monkey, tire changer and fuel pumper,” he recalled. The Towlers lived above the 24-hour business. “The door would have a knock at three in the morning because someone needed a check cashed.”
    As for his ambitions, Towler’s “thoughts were all ball related.” By third grade, he was playing on the fifth-grade team, and at Boyd County High School, he became a regional star. In 1963, his senior year, the 6’3" Towler averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds. He was the Lions all-time leading scorer until the arrival of the three-point shot (currently he is third). His senior year would turn tragic when Towler lost his father. The death brought him closer to his mother and, by necessity, more involved at the truck stop.
    Towler represented the region in 1963’s East/West game (all-stars from Eastern Kentucky faced those from the West). The game at the University of Kentucky was preceded by a week of practice at Memorial Coliseum where Towler caught the eyes of UK legend Adolph Rupp and his assistant Harry Lancaster. Lancaster let Towler know they were interested in bringing him to UK.
    “Lancaster told me, ‘Steve, we like you, but we’re talking to this other fella, and if he comes, we’re going to take him and we won’t be back in touch with you,’” Towler recalled. Towler never heard from the coaches again. “It was either Pat Riley or Steve Towler. UK made the right decision.”
    Riley would have his UK number retired and become famous as an NBA player, coach and executive. Towler accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of Tulsa. “I had a single-parent mother,” he said. “It would have been difficult for her to send me to school.” After two years at Tulsa, Towler completed college at Ohio’s Rio Grande University. Post-college, Towler entered the education field. “My mother was a great influence on me,” Towler said. Towler’s mother spent 44 years as a teacher and counselor. “Even though she’s been deceased for a number of years, I got a lot of votes (for Boyd County Commissioner) because I was Opal Towler’s son,” Towler said.
    Beginning at Russell High School, Towler found education a way to stay close to basketball, as he both coached and officiated, two roles he relinquished for being needed at the truck stop. For eight years he taught daily while working the family business at night (with midnight shifts on weekends). Teaching would lead to five superintendent positions, including an Ashland stint in the early 1980s. While in Hardin County, Towler was named Kentucky’s Superintendent of the Year.
    Following 30 years in education, 20 as a superintendent, Towler returned home to care for his ailing mother. The respective United Ways of Boyd and Greenup counties had recently combined when Towler became the organization’s first full-time director in 1999. “Wherever I was, I had always been a contributor,” Towler said. “If you have more than one charity you want to help, there is no better way than the United Way.” Towler led United Way for 14 years, during which time the organization expanded to include Carter, Elliott, and Lawrence counties.
    Having pondered public office, Towler decided to run for Boyd County Judge Executive. “Every position that I had through my career had been appointed but I had never been elected,” Towler said. “Believe you me, that’s a different ballgame.” In 2015, Towler experienced the feeling of election.
    “I can honestly say if I’m fortunate to win one more term as judge that will be it,” Towler said concerning retirement and a transition to “supportive volunteer. I don’t think there’s a magic age for settling down. I really enjoy public service.”