Gerald L. Towne, 86, a lifelong resident of Waterbury Center, passed away in the comfort of his family at Woodridge Nursing Home in Berlin on Tuesday, July 5, 2011. Born in Montpelier on December 30, 1924, he was the son of the late Harold and Lois (Leach) Towne. On October 9, 1954, Gerald married the former Patricia L. Reagan in Moretown.
Gerald was a 1943 graduate of Waterbury High School and then entered the U.S. Army where he served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre of Operations during WWII. Following his discharge from the service, Gerald returned home and continued working on the family farm until it was sold. He then went to work for the Mt. Mansfield Dairy Co-op as a field manager until it merged with the Cabot Co-op in 1961. With Cabot, Gerald became a plant supervisor for their cheese manufacturing operation in Morrisville before becoming a supervisor of packaging and processing at the main Cabot Creamery Plant in Cabot. Following his retirement from Cabot in 1987, Gerald became a school bus driver for the Harwood Union High School District, which he enjoyed for 10 years.
Gerald was a member of Winooski Lodge #49 F&AM, the Waterbury VFW #10034, the Waterbury Area Senior Citizens where he helped deliver Meals-On-Wheels, and RSVP. In his leisure time, Gerald enjoyed gardening, hunting, fishing, horseshoes, snowmobiling, dancing – particularly polkas – and was an avid reader, His family fondly remembers Gerald as being the consummate family man, his love of family vacations on Prince Edward Island and in Maine but most of all, just the pure joy he felt with his wife, children and grandchildren.
Gerald is survived by his wife of 56 years, Patricia Towne of Waterbury Center; their children, Sharon Ward and her husband Calvin of Moretown, Susan Conway and her husband James of Hudson, Quebec, Sarah Black and her husband Benjamin of Morrisville, and Steven Towne and his wife Rebecca of Cambridge; his grandchildren, Colin Ward, Caitlin Ward, Chelsea Conway, Shannon Conway, McKenna Black, Alyson Black and Anna Towne; his great-grandson, Mason Quenneville; two sisters, Margery Irish and her husband Maxwell of Waterbury Center and Kathleen Quimby of Duxbury; a brother, Justin Towne and his wife Jackie of Port Orchard WA; as well as nieces, nephews and extended family. Gerald was predeceased by a brother, Rodney Towne.
A celebration of Gerald’s life will be held from the Wesley United Methodist Church in Waterbury on Saturday, July 9, 2011, at 11 a.m. with a reception to follow in the church dining room. Inurnment will take place with military honors in Waterbury Center Cemetery. The family requests that flowers be omitted; rather memorial gifts would be appreciated to the Waterbury Area Senior Citizens, 14 Stowe Street, Waterbury, VT 05676, the Waterbury Food Shelf, 57 South Main Street, Waterbury, VT 05676, or to the Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation, 789 Vermont National Guard Road, Colchester, VT 05446. To send online condolences please visit www.perkinsparker.com and Facebook. Assisting the family is the Perkins-Parker Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Waterbury.
