9/22/1932 – 3/5/2025
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Sureva Towler, 92, was a historian, writer and community advocate from Steamboat Springs, Co who lived in Lawrence many years. While in Lawrence she worked at the Lied Center and Humanities Kansas and supervised the raising of her three grandchildren: Rachel, Regan and Sadie Keller, daughters of Tim and Judy Keller.
Sureva taught her granddaughters how to “slay dragons, drink red beer, dance on tabletops, and pee in the woods” and her great-grandchildren Elliott, Audie, and Charlie how to play pool.
She had a dynamic career working for the Democratic National Committee during the Kennedy Administration, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She wrote nine books, countless newspaper columns, and award-winning essays. She worked as a county administrator, grant writer, and publisher, turning her experiences into material for The Steamboat Pilot, The Denver Post, and her most awarded book, The Boys at the Bar. Her writing earned recognition from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Denver Newspaper Guild, Colorado Authors League, and Colorado Historical Foundation. She earned numerous additional distinctions as an active volunteer.
A celebration of life will be held this summer in Steamboat. In lieu of flowers, please consider memorials to the Lawrence Public Library or the American Civil Liberties Union.
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