Don Howard

Don D. Howard, 100, a Fort Collins resident and insurance agent who was active in the Masons, Shrine and worked on several civic and Episcopal church affairs, passed away Thursday, March 16, 2006. He resided at New Mercer Commons. He and his family celebrated his 100th birthday in Fort Collins last July. Please see the July 24, 2005, Fort Collins Coloradoan for the full story. He was known as an avid fly fisherman, hunter and family man. A 33rd Degree Mason, he joined the organization over 75 years ago while living in Nebraska. He often was in his pink and black clown suit, made by his wife, during Fort Collins Shrine parades and the Colorado State University rodeo parades. Mr. Howard was born in 1905 in Bassett, Neb., and spent his childhood and high school years in Gordon, Neb., where his parents, Mark and Vera Howard, operated a funeral home. Mr. Howard attended the University of Nebraska and later worked for the state highway department while in Sidney, Neb. He was married to the late Geraldine Elizabeth Kennedy of Sidney in Sterling in 1931 and they spent the first night of their honeymoon marooned in a Fort Collins hotel during a snowstorm before getting on their way to Red Feather Lakes where the Howard family owned a cabin. They later moved from Sidney to Scottsbluff, Neb., where he soon became the western Nebraska representative of the Paul Revere and Massachusetts Protective Life Insurance companies. During World War II, he was with the National Guard and held duty at a German POW camp outside Scottsbluff. In 1948, Mr. Howard was transferred to Cheyenne, Wyo., to manage the company office as the general agent for the state. Traveling to San Francisco for a company meeting in the winter of 1949, he and other passengers were stranded for two days when the train stalled in high drifts on Donner Summit on the Nevada-California border. Mr. Howard and some of the passengers suffered from being gassed as the engineers kept the passenger cars heated waiting for rescue. It was during the years in Wyoming that Mr. Howard became proficient as a fly fisherman, fly tyer and hunter while traveling the state. His family says he would work two or more days selling life insurance and then stop by a ranch to get permission to fish or hunt, most often sharing his catch with the owner. Each August for nearly 30 years until 1961, he would take his wife's stepfather, uncle and often his own parents to a ranch outside Lander, Wyo., to fish for the month on the Little Popo Agie River. Mule-drawn wagon trips also were made to fish on Lake Christina. Mr. Howard and his wife moved to Fort Collins in 1957, and he worked for the American Family Life Assurance Company. In Fort Collins, the trout fishing flies he tied were often for sale at Jax Surplus. His family still uses some of the flies. His wife of 58 years, Geraldine, died in 1988. A grandson died in 2004. Survivors include two children, a daughter, Barbara Aro Richard of Bozeman, Mont., and a son, Robert Howard Judy of Alexandria, Va.; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and longtime companion, Jean King of New Mercer Commons. A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 2000 Stover St. The Rev. Dr. Harold Warren will officiate the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Denver Children's Hospital Shriners Unit or the charity of your choice in care of Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive St., Fort Collins, CO 80524.