Robert J. Tower, Jr.

January 21, 1947 - April 14, 2013

ROTTERDAM – Robert J. Tower, Jr., 72, entered into eternal rest on Sunday morning at home after a brief illness, surrounded by his devoted wife and family. Bob was born in Staten Island, son of the late Robert J. and Rita (McCaffery) Tower. He graduated from Curtis High School, received a business and accounting degree from Albany Business College and a BA in Sociology from Russell Sage College. He honorably served his country in the United States Air Force, being stationed in Morocco for a period of time. In 1963, Bob began working for the New York Department of Taxation & Finance, then with the Division of the Budget and lastly, the Division for Youth, serving as Senior Personal Administrator, retiring after 33 dedicated years of service. Bob started his own tax preparation and financial planning business, RJ Tower Financial Services, in 1972. He was a member of the National Association of Tax Practitioners and a faithful communicant of St. Anthony's Church. Bob was a man of love and faith and had a wonderful laugh and easygoing nature. He was devoted to his precious wife Mary Lou, with whom he fell in love at first sight when they met on a bus in New York City and they were married for over 50 years. He is survived by beloved wife, Mary Lou (LaPorta) Tower; his loving siblings, Karen D'Angelo, Rita Trimarche and her husband Sereno, all of Inverness, FL, and George Tower of Beverly Hills, FL; as well as many loving nieces and nephews. Services will be held on Friday morning at 9am from the Rossi & Ditoro Funeral Home, Union at N. Jay Street, then to St. Anthony's Church, Seward Place where a Mass will be celebrated at 10am. Entombment will follow in St. Anthony's Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited and may call at the Rossi & Ditoro Funeral Home Thursday from 4 to 8 pm. Memorial contributions may be made in Bob's memory to St. Anthony's Memorial Fund, 331 Seward Place, Schenectady, NY 12305 or to the American Cancer Society.