By Bill Center

The public memorial service for former Padres general manager Kevin Towers will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 25) at Petco Park.

Towers, who led the Padres to the 1998 National League title and four National League West titles, passed away Jan. 30 after a 14-month battle with anaplastic thyroid cancer. He was 56.

Those interested in attending the memorial can enter through the Home Plate Gate starting at noon. Free parking will be available in the Tailgate Park lot off Imperial Ave. and the Padres Parkade at 440 11th Ave.

Known affectionately throughout baseball as “KT,” Towers was the Padres general manager from 1995 to 2009. The longest tenured general manager in Padres history, Towers spent a total of 28 years in the Padres organization as a player, a minor league pitching coach, a scout and the scouting director.

Towers was 33 in 1995 when he became the Padres’ general manager.

The Padres reached the playoffs during four of Towers’ 14 seasons as general manager. They reached the playoffs only one other time, when they won the 1984 National League title.

Many former Padres and baseball dignitaries are expected to attend the service for one of baseball’s more beloved figures. The personable Towers was respected throughout the game for his ability to judge talent, his candor and the strength of his word. Towers was among the first executives in baseball to blend analytics into traditional scouting.