Towery Scholarship at
UIS Honors Memory of Daughter 1
Two years ago the Towerys realized Lisa and Sarah were to graduate on the same day at different universities. That conflict took a tragic turn, however, after Sarah and her boyfriend, Earl "Chip" Smith, of Riverton, Ill., were killed in a head-on collision in Lafayette during a visit with Sarah's parents. Dan and
Margie Towery were in one car and Sarah and Chip were following in
another vehicle as the four headed to a park for a hike. The Towerys saw
a pickup truck weaving toward them. It crossed the centerline and
sideswiped the car in front of them, then swerved toward the ditch. The
truck picked up speed as it turned toward the centerline, crashing
head‑on into Chip's car. The
Towerys witnessed the collision in their rearview mirrors. They were the
first to arrive at the scene of the accident, "but all we could do
was tell the kids to hang on and that we loved them," Dan wrote in
an account of the tragedy. Authorities
said the driver of the pickup truck, Jeffrey A. Trout, had cocaine in
his system and a blood‑alcohol level of .27, almost three times
the legal limit in Indiana. Trout also had previous drunken driving
convictions and his license was suspended at the time of the crash. Over
the past several months, the Towerys and Smiths settled lawsuits against
Trout's auto insurer and the bar, which has since closed, that served
Trout ten drinks in 2 1/2 hours before the crash. The former bartender
was convicted of criminal recklessness, sentenced to 180 days in jail,
ordered to pay a fine to the Towerys, and to keep a portrait of Sarah
Towery and Chip Smith in his cell. "It's
still really hard for us. But we were motivated from the beginning to
make something positive come out of it."
-Margie Towery Since
their daughter's death, the Towerys have actively pressured lawmakers to
create legislation that reduces drunk driving tragedies. "Since the
crash we have learned a lot about how the judicial system works and
about the lack of communication among various law enforcement agencies,
between different states, and even between neighboring counties.
Although Trout was the primary
cause of the crash, there are numerous individuals, businesses,
government agencies, and the judicial system that allowed this tragedy
to occur and must bear some of the responsibility."
A
commitment to honor their daughter's memory by helping others drove the
couple's effort to establish the Sarah B. Towery Scholarship at UIS. The
endowment funds an annual award to be given to a student who has
demonstrated the same drive as their daughter. To be eligible for the
Sarah B. Towery Scholarship, students must maintain a 3.0 grade point
average. Priority is given to those who are attending college part time. "Sarah
wanted it all," said Dan. "She insisted on working full time
(she was office manager at P.S.I., an engineering firm in Springfield,
where she met Chip Smith) and attending classes in the evenings. She
even owned her own home. For students like Sarah, the University of
Illinois at Springfield, with its flexible scheduling and focus on
working adults, was perfect." The
first Sarah B. Towery Scholarship was awarded in the fall of 1999. The
Towerys traveled to UIS in November to meet the first recipient, Eyvonne
Hawkins. They said they were greatly impressed with her, a working
mother who is taking classes part time to earn a degree in history. Hawkins,
an administrative assistant to the academic director of the Department
of Arts & Sciences at Richland Community College in Decatur, Ill.,
said the Sarah B. Towery Scholarship has deeply affected her. "In
reading the biography about Sarah that accompanied the award letter and
in talking with her parents and sister at the scholarship luncheon, it
seemed as
Sarah and I were very similar to each other and were traveling
down the same path prior to her unfortunate accident. We both were
pursuing our educational dreams while at the same time trying to keep up
with our obligations as adults. We were both determined to
succeed," she said. "She
is wonderful," said Margie. "She wants to be a history teacher
one day. We are so happy to be able to help her achieve her goals." The
experience was balm to the still‑raw wounds that are the Towerys'
hearts. Healing comes slowly, they admit. They find comfort in action,
donating Sarah's clothing to the refugees in Kosovo and adopting her
beloved cat, Beetle. They have also given gifts in Sarah's name to
Springfield's Lincoln Library. The
Sarah B. Towery Scholarship may be their daughter's most enduring
legacy. They take great joy in knowing that, every year, another young
person will be one step closer to realizing his or her dream. "Through
the educational assistance that the Towery family has chosen to provide
to students like myself, not only can our dreams come true, but also we
can help Sarah's dreams come true by continuing down the path that she
began... I am giving it all I have to complete my education dreams and
to make Sarah and her family proud of my accomplishments," said
Hawkins. "The scholarship allows us to help others do what Sarah was determined to do," said Margie Towery. "I think that would make her very happy." ### 1
Article from the Summer 2000 issue (number 32) of Investing in
Illinois, a newsletter of the U of I Foundation and private giving
on behalf of the University of Illinois |
