- Date Of Birth: January 21, 1947
- Date Of Death: January 3, 2022
- State: Connecticut
After a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease, it is with a heavy heart that we report the passing of retired Lt. Col. Richard Gordon Howson, USAF, on January 3, 2022, just 18 days shy of his 75th birthday. He died peacefully with is wife, Joan and family members by his . Col. Howson was born in Hartford on January 21, 1947 to the late Edgar and Olive (Seger) Howson. He grew up in West Hartford where his early years were spent by the side of his father where he learned first-hand his father’s woodworking skills, as well as acquiring the knowledge for repairing all matter of things broken, so in the future years he was always unafraid to tackle anything that needed fixing. He was a member of the Cub Scouts, and during his high school years, he was a member of the Noah Webster Chapter of the Order of DeMolay. In 1965, he achieved the position as Master Councilor, and in 1967, he was the recipient of the Degree of Chevalier for performing meritorious service on behalf of the Order of graduated from Conard High School in 1965, and in 1969, graduated from Central Connecticut State University with a BS degree in Industrial Arts Education. In 1970, he earned his Master of Science degree in Technical and Industrial Arts Education from Southern Illinois University, and then continued on at the college as an instructor. One of his favorite and meaningful teaching demonstrations involved placing a peeled grape on a table saw in close proximity to the piece of wood being cut on the table saw. After he turned off the saw, he picked up the grape for all to see. The grape was obviously imbedded with small pieces of wooden shards. Then he’d tell the students that this is your eyeball, and if you don’t wear eye protection, this is what could happen to your eyes. He clearly made his 1971, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. Two years later, he attended Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Texas, and upon graduation as a 2nd Lieutenant was then assigned to Lowry AFB in Denver, Colorado where he met his future wife Joan, who was also serving as an AF officer in the same squadron. His military career spanned more than 30 years, retiring from Randolph AFB, Texas in 2001. His many assignments and temporary duty assignments took him around the world – from Alaska to Hawaii, California to the Pentagon, to Thailand, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Spain and England. This was a once in a lifetime adventure while serving his country, and he enjoyed it all, as he easily fit into each new environment, making new and lifelong friendships at each new assignment location.After his retirement from the military, Rich decided to take a year off to improve and update his home. At that time, his mother-in-law Grace was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he gladly agreed, along with his wife Joan, to take care of Grace, and for the next three years traveled back and forth between Schertz, TX and Saugerties, NY. After Grace’s passing, Rich enjoyed trips to Florida for reunions with Joan’s college friends and spouses, trips to Disney World and Epcot Center, and various other trips to Las Vegas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and to weddings of family members, and cried tears of joy as he watched his Goddaughter and niece Katie marry her beloved Jeff. But he still wanted to give back to society, so in 2011, he became a Red Cross Volunteer. After he received training, he was assigned to the Randolph AFB medical clinic where he worked at the counter in the Pharmacy Clinic, checking the accuracy of the medicines given to each patient to ensure that each one received the correct prescriptions. He enjoyed the work for many years, but over time the Alzheimer’s disease took over his ability to properly perform his duties, and he graciously stepped Rich had the role of being a patient. There were all kinds of stories about how some Alzheimer’s patients behaved – severe personality changes, becoming hard to handle etc., but Rich was a good and nice person, and he pretty much didn’t have a Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde personality. He still loved people, even if he didn’t know your name, he knew who belonged with him. And he was still mischievous, especially when it was time to brush his teeth, and he pretended that he didn’t want to open his mouth. He had some wonderful people who helped him along the way, especially his best friend and next-door neighbor Steve Lamm who was always around to visit and lend a hand whenever the home health workers were unavailable, and Angel our good friend, who spent hours with him – always brought out the best in Rich and made him happy. The world has lost one of the good guys. He will be sorely is survived by his wife of 46 years, Joan (Vig), his brother, Bob and wife Patty of New Hartford; his sister, Eleanor; nieces, Debra, Beth, Dawn and Heather; nephews, Jon, Timothy and Rob; sisters-in-law, Christine and Laraine; niece/goddaughter, Katie; great nieces, Megan and Grace; and great nephews, Kyle, William, Christian, Daniel, David, Matthew, Teddy, Ryan and Drew.
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