Milt Stowe
Mayor does not let illness get in his way
There is devotion and dedication to one’s community and there is love of one’s community.
Mayor Milt Stowe exemplifies love of one’s community more than anyone and for that, he is The Porterville Recorder’s 2017 Person of the Year.
Now entering his fourth year as mayor, Mr. Stowe has continued in that capacity even though he is battling a rare form of cancer that has deprived him of much of his strength and stamina. He has done so because he loves the town he has called home for more than four decades.
And, he has done so at the urging and support of thousands of city residents who have come to love the man with the big smile and the inability to turn people down when asked for his help or support.
In November, he was named the Chamber of Commerce’s Man of the Year, an honor not for his service as mayor, but for his continual display of love for his community.
That he still serves, still shows up and still cares, has earned him the respect of everyone, including former Mayor Ron Irish.
“First of all, I’m just amazed, and I shouldn’t be,” Irish said of Mr. Stowe. “It’s amazing from an amazing guy,” he said.
Irish said being on the council and being mayor are very demanding, but he knows Mr. Stowe loves this community and is committed to making it a better community.
“I’m in awe, not the fact he’s doing it, but the fact he loves his community,” said Irish, adding most people could not do what Mr. Stowe continues to do.
“He’s got to be an inspiration to many people. I know he is for me,” praised Irish.
Former Mayor Virginia Gurrola said it is Mr. Stowe’s strong faith which drives him to serve his community. She paraphrased Mathew 7:12 from the New Testament: “Do unto others what you would do unto you,” and added, “That’s Milt.”
Fellow Councilmember Monte Reyes said he is amazed by Mr. Stowe.
“I’ve never met anybody who is so universally liked,” he said of his colleague. “I can’t say enough about what a good man he is,” added Reyes.
Gurrola possibly summed up Mr. Stowe best. “He is a person that is the city. He is the community and he has it in his heart.”
Mr. Stowe was urged by many to run for the City Council in 2014, a race he would easily win after retiring from a long career with the city. So popular is Mr. Stowe, he was elected mayor on the day he was sworn in, probably a first in this community.
He has volunteered in numerous other ways. He had to step down as Chamber of Commerce board president to take his seat on the City Council. He has served for many years on the Porterville College Foundation and has been inducted into the PC Hall of Fame.
Mr. Stowe, who earned honors for playing basketball and baseball at
Porterville College, has been a part of the community since 1975 when he was the head baseball coach, head women's basketball coach and a part-time instructor at Porterville College.
An outstanding athlete, he has assisted coaching in various capacities throughout his years in town. Probably his most satisfying was assisting the Monache girls softball team last season when the Marauders won the Valley championship.
He did that and more, all the while fighting cancer.
Today, he is on a list for a heart transplant and will most likely need a bone marrow transplant as well.
The mayor is battling amyloidosis. He told The Recorder last summer that the source of his cancer is his bone marrow and it will take a bone marrow transplant for him to get better. Because his cancer has attacked his heart, a heart transplant is needed as well.
A few weeks ago, both the communities of Porterville and Tulare held
blood drives for Mr. Stowe, who worked as Tulare's head of Parks and Recreation for several years before returning to Porterville.
The mayor noticed about two years ago that something was wrong, but it took a while to diagnose the rare form of cancer. Everything was confirmed in June following a stay at UCLA and a biopsy. He said the cancer is found in African-americans and it can be genetic, which he first thought or it can be caused by the bone marrow. The mayor's cancer is caused by the bone marrow.
True to form, Mr. Stowe said he was humbled by being named The Recorder's Person of the Year.
“I'm sure there are more people more deserving,” he said.
His love of the community goes beyond all barriers. He said one reason he loves Porterville is the willingness of residents to assist each other.
“I love Porterville because the community has always reached out to help each other,” he said of efforts during the 1990 freeze and more recently, the drought.
“This is our community. We always seem to stand alone, but we take care of ourselves,” he added.
Despite his illness, he has missed very few City Council meetings and continues to be the face of the city at functions, and more importantly, with prospective industrial or retail developers. He does that because of his love of the town called Porterville.