Daily Sitka Sentinel

Services Set Wednesday For Glenn G. Howard Sr.

Glenn Gerald Howard Sr.

       Services for Glenn Gerald Howard Sr., a lifelong Sitkan, will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 12 at the First Presbyterian Church.
    The Rev. Bennie Grace Nabua of United Methodist Church will officiate. A reception will follow at the Elks Lodge, hosted by the Emblem Club.
    Glenn died June 6 with family members by his bedside. He was 84.
    He was born Aug. 11, 1934, in Sitka, the son of George and Helen (Liberty) Howard. He was a Kaagwaantaan (Wolf), and Eagle.
    Glenn attended school in Sitka until the eighth grade, then continued his learning by doing. He worked with his father, a boat builder whose own father, also named George Howard, had built his own home and a boat shop on Katlian Street in 1913. The shop stood until 1990.
    Glenn was a craftsman, and took great pleasure in his work. He built a 24-foot cabin cruiser, the Captain Kidd,  for his sons, and a 36-foot boat, the Miss Howard, for his daughters. He also built several skiffs and punts, and boat cabins.
    Also like his father, Glenn was a fisherman, and he and his brothers crewed for their dad on a seiner.
    He also worked at Alaska Lumber & Pulp Co. for 15 years, and then for the city Public Works Department, from which he retired.
    Glenn liked to hunt deer and mountain goats, make deer calls, go bowling and play basketball – he was on the Sitka Nighthawks and Elks Bills teams.
    He was a member of the Sitka Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge and Alaska Native Brotherhood.
    He and Elizabeth Antioquia were married on Sept. 25, 1953, and together they raised six children and a foster son.
    “He never complained, yet did a wonderful job of providing for his family,” a daughter said. “Pop never knew a stranger – everybody was welcome.”
     She added, “He still had old-fashioned values when it came to respect. He also instilled an honorable work ethic: be honest, work hard, pay your bills.”
    “He always used to say ‘there is no shame in love,’” another daughter said.
    A son-in-law wrote to his own sons: “Your grandfather was a great person ... (he) taught me how to fish, hunt, catch crab and get abalone. But most of all I learned how to be a good, kind person.”
    Glenn was preceded in death by daughters Geraldine A. Garcia (Joe) of New Bedford, Massachusetts; Doris M. LaBorn-Anselm (Carl) of Juneau; his brothers, George Howard, Roger Howard and Louie Howard; and a sister, Inez Johnson.
    He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Elizabeth, of Sitka; sons Glenn B. Howard and Darryl Howard (Stacy), all of Sitka; daughters Cynthia Bass (Mark), of Spring, Texas, and Judith Kell (Tony) of Sitka; and sisters Ruby Lanham of Caldwell, Idaho, Diane Howard of Seattle, Gina Lundy of Port Angeles, Washington, and Shirley Howard of Sitka.
    He also is survived by 14 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, one great-great grandchild, many nieces and nephews, and many friends who were like family.