Liz and Glenn Howard To Celebrate Their 60th

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Category: News

Created on Wednesday, 18 September 2013 13:44

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By Sentinel Staff
The bride was just 17 and the groom 18, but the marriage has worked out fine – Elizabeth (Antioquia) and Glenn G. Howard celebrate their 60th anniversary Saturday.
The Howards will mark the occasion with a no-host dinner at the Elks Lodge at 6 p.m., with a reception to follow in the mezzanine area. All who plan to attend the dinner are asked to let Liz know by Friday. Her number is 747-3982.
Liz also asked that no one brings presents. “We just want your presence,” she said.
The Howards will be joined at the dinner by their sons Glenn Jr. and Darryl and daughter Judy, who live in Sitka. Daughter Cindy lives in the Woodlands, Texas, and foster son Willie Davis in Juneau. (Daughter Jeri Garcia died last December, and Doris in 2004.)
The Howards also have 14 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
Liz and Glenn were married Sept. 25, 1953, in the Sitka courthouse, with U.S. Commissioner Frank H.B. Richards officiating. Glenn’s sister Inez Johnson and brother George Howard Jr. were the witnesses.
On their 25th and 50th anniversaries the couple had larger events when they renewed  their vows in the First Presbyterian Church.
Both Liz and Glenn were born and raised in Sitka. Liz quit school when she got married, and Glenn had quit after eighth grade to become a fisherman, help at the Howard family boat-building business on Katlian Street.
He also worked at the Sitka Pioneers Home, helped build the Alaska Pulp Corp. mill then worked there. He was a city public works employee for many years before his retirement about 20 years ago.
Along with tending the family, Liz worked at the Double O senior center, started by Eleanore Moore in the 1970s, then became the director of the Swan Lake Senior Center, retiring after nearly 30 years. She still helps out there, and volunteers at the Alaska Raptor Center.
After her mother died, Liz was raised by her grandmother, Mrs. Sitka Charlie, and hadn’t been on boats, she said, until she joined the Howard family.
Boats are a big part of the Howard family. When the three youngest children were still home, Glenn built a 26-foot boat and the family traveled to Juneau, crabbing, fishing and enjoying being on the water. A couple of years ago, Glenn built another boat with the grandchildren getting in the act, painting and even using some power tools.
Glenn takes the kids and their friends out on the Whaler, does boat repairs and helps others with woodwork on their boats.
The Howard yard on Merrill Street  “always has a boat” in it, Liz said. It also has a storage building full of tools and boat items, and a sign on it, “Pop’s Toy Box,” that daughter Judy added.
Glenn and Liz gave up fishing about 20 years ago, and are planning to sell their boat, the Seaway.
 “Sometimes, we go down to the boat and close the curtains, and pretend we’re anchored,” Liz said.
“Now we just talk about what we used to do,” Liz said, laughing.

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