Marietta Windsor Towry

Marietta Windsor Towry, age 91, passed away at home in El Paso, Texas on December 23, 2021. She was in hospice care in the company of her husband and daughter. Marietta Towry was born on March 15, 1930 in Dallas Texas. Her family later moved to Brownsville, Texas. In 1944, they relocated to El Paso where she attended El Paso High School (Class of 1947) and the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy, where she studied English Literature. She met her husband, William Towry while in the college band program. The Towrys married in 1951. They eventually settled in Dallas, where they lived for 31 years. Marietta completed her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Spanish and attained her Texas State Teacher’s Certification in 1979 from the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1985, the couple returned to El Paso. Marietta and her husband were deeply involved in the sport of fencing. They reestablished the Dallas Fencers’ Club in the early 1950’s. Marietta was a competitive fencer through the next two decades. She began teaching and coaching fencing at the University of Texas at El Paso in 1986 and in 1988, the Towrys opened the El Paso Fencing Center. Marietta became one of the first women in the country to gain an international fencing referee license and one of the first women to earn her Prévôt D’Arms coaching certification. She retired after a long, successful career at the age of 83. Marietta was not only a talented coach, but also a gifted artist, community leader, a lover of the arts, and a devoted mother and wife. Marietta was proceeded in death by her parents, Raquel R. Windsor and Colonel Tinnin F. Windsor. She is survived by her husband William G. Towry and daughter Pamela Towry Church. Marietta and her husband recently celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary. A memorial honoring Marietta’s life will be held Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. at Sunset Funeral Home West in El Paso. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Francis on the Hill Episcopal Church (El Paso) or www.WFencing.org. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Marietta Windsor Towry please visit our Sympathy Store.