Edward Tovrea

Vocation

Lifestyle

Family

American businessman, heir to the Tovrea fortune, son of Philip Tovrea and his first wife. His grandfather, Edward Ambrose Tovrea, owned a meat-packing plant, sheep pens and a slaughterhouse in the Phoenix area. In 1931 he and his second wife Della bought the castle built by one of his neighbors that is now known as Tovrea castle. He died a year later, in 1932, leaving his widow Della to manage the castle. They had no children but Edward Ambrose had five from his first marriage, one of whom was Philip, the father of this subject, Edward Arthur Tovrea. Edward Tovrea became a cattle baron in his own right. He served in World War II and in 1941 was shot down as he flew over the English Channel. Picked up by the Germans, he was held a prisoner of war for nearly three years in Stalag Luft III, southeast of Berlin. The movie "The Great Escape" was reportedly written based on his experiences, with Steve McQueen playing Tovrea. In 1947 he married Priscilla Peterson. He became patriarch of the family and had three children, Edward Jr., nicknamed "Hap," Georgia, nicknamed "Cricket" and Priscilla nicknamed "Prissy." He married for the second time in 1969, and in 1973, took his third wife, Jeanne Guenther, age 39 at the time. They remained married until his death in July 1983. Five years later, on April 1, 1988, his wife Jeanne was found murdered. His son Edward "Hap" Arthur Tovrea, Jr., was implicated in the murder but never convicted. After several years, a man named James Harrod, a business parnter of Edward Jr., was convicted though many say that he was hired by Hap. The motive? The family fortune.