TOWER, Walter Thorne Jr. Of Needham, Massachusetts, passed away comfortably on November 30, 2019 at home. He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years June Fresen Tower, sons Seth, Ethan and his wife Kay, Joshua and his wife Molly, and Caleb and his wife Edith, along with 10 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He was the son of the late Walter T. Tower Sr. and Theodora Albree Tower. He is survived by his siblings Theodora A. Tower (Moyer), Katherine B. Tower (Carter), and Samuel F. Tower.
Walter was born at Newton Wellesley Hospital on October 13, 1931. He was raised in Newton and graduated Newton High School in 1949. He was a resident of West Newton for most of his life until 2005 when he and June moved to Wellesley. In 2015, they moved to Needham to join the North Hill retirement community.
Walter attended Union College, was editor of the college magazine and graduated in 1953 with a degree in English. For most of his career, Walter worked in the printing industry. He joined the Nimrod Press company in 1959. In 1970 he bought out his partners in Nimrod Press and led the company as president until 1997. He served on the board of the National Association of Printers and Lithographers, the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation and Printing Industries of New England and supported many other printing trade organizations.
Walter was an avid sailor and lover of traditional wooden boats. He spent as much time as possible on his sail boats: The Wife of Bath, Flying Fish, and Harry Tabard. He sailed far and wide in New England, in Eastern Canada as far north as Goose Bay, Labrador and in Northern Europe east to Helsinki, Finland, north to Bergen, Norway and many points in between. He was a supporter of Mystic Seaport and Maine Maritime Museum. He was also a long-time member of the Cruising Club of America.
Walter was a keen antiquarian and art collector. His prodigious collection of rare books from the early days of printing included the Nuremberg Chronicle, the Gessner Zoology, and a leaf from the Gutenberg Bible. He was a lifetime member of the Society of Printers in Boston. Much of his rare book collection has been donated to Noble and Greenough School and Union College.
Walter had a deep appreciation for jazz music and always enjoyed Ray Smith’s “Jazz Decades” program on WGBH. Passionate about food, he attended cooking school in Paris later in life and was eager to share gourmet meals with family and friends.
Walter enjoyed sharing his knowledge of the history of printing and entrepreneurship. At various times he taught or helped teach courses at Mass College of Art, Simmons College, Babson College, Harvard Business School and the Insead Business School.
Memorial services will be private. In lieu of flowers and remembrances please make a charitable donation to an institution of your choosing in his name.