Tom Bower II dies

GAINESVILLE - Funeral services will be held Sunday for Tom Bower II, a well-known Gainesville businessman, who died today Friday at Lanier Park Hospital. <br> <br> Bower, a native of New Jersey, moved to Georgia in 1964 while he was with Amoco Oil Company. In 1974 he became part of a partnership that purchased Clipper Petroleum in Gainesville, turning it into one of the largest petroleum distributors in the state. Clipper Petroleum eventually gave birth to Circle M convenience stores, which now dot the north Georiga landscape. Bower remained as the leader of the company until his death.<br> <br> For more than 30 years, he was a contributor to Southern Mississippi University athletics (a son, Jeff, has been the school&#39;s head football coach for several years) and was a past president of both Lions Coub International and the Georgia Oilmen&#39;s Association.<br> <br> Funeral services will be held Sunday at 2:00 at Grace Episcopal Church. (A complete obituary can be found in the Obituaries section of this Web site.)