By Stanley Tiger
SAN DIEGO –It has been three months since San Diego’s Dr. Louis C. Towne transitioned into the next plane, leaving behind him an endearing legacy – that of practicing universal friendliness felt by thousands of his patients, professional colleagues and students, a virtue which he even expressed towards complete strangers. To his friends and family, he is a lost treasure.
As a dear personal friend, I wrote on the Am Israel Mortuary tribute page, “If a person is very fortunate, in their lifetime they will have been blessed to meet even one individual as fine as Louis Towne. I am thankful for my good fortune.”
In 2013, I brought an audio engineer to help record a pilot program of interviews, which is now available here on San Diego Jewish World.
The interview opens with his personal experiences as an athlete and then team doctor at UCLA. It follows with his career as an unusually young surgeon during his military assignment in Newfoundland, then leading from peak experience to further peak in his long medical career and travels. Towards the end of the interview, Lou discusses his extended love affair with Torah and his heartfelt quest for “understanding God.”
In his voice, you will hear his unmistakable sincerity, his happiness with life and his love of the Jewish tradition. Between tracks, the musical transitions are by violin virtuoso, Zina Schiff, from her CD, King David’s Lyre.
Recently, I had a conversation with Ruth Towne, his life partner for over 60 years. “It was amazing how many people came to the service,” she said, “we only told a few people.” Towards the end of his life, as his health was deteriorating, Mrs. Towne spoke of a friend of comparable accomplishment, a rabbi and cantor with advanced degrees in medicine and law, Israel Vanna, formerly with Beth Tefillah. He would visit Lou when passing through San Diego. By some rare coincidence, both friends died within two hours of each other on opposite sides of the continent. “They must be so happy now,” as Ruth choked up and told me, “They went to heaven together singing joyfully.”
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Stanley Tiger is a freelance writer based in San Diego.
We’ve known Lou since the 70’s. Your article does him justice.