Plankowner
Posts: 5024
Location: Gulfport, MS | Subject: Obit Messenger results for 05/31/09.
- (Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram)
Richard H. Howison, 91, of Falmouth, died Thursday, May 28, 2009, at the Maine Veterans' Home, Scarborough. He was born in Portland on July 27, 1917, the son of Ruth Harding Howison and Ludwell L. Howison Jr. He attended Portland Schools and graduated from Portland High School in 1934. At age 13, he bought a 35' wooden sloop rigged sailboat named Phantom for $200.00 and sailed it along the Maine Coast. He attended Portland Junior College and the University of Texas at Austin for one year each. At Texas he played football and swam on the Freshman teams. In 1938 he signed on as the Second Mate on the Schooner AHTO for an around-the-world voyage. He loved telling stories of the adventures encountered on the way to Jamaica, through the Panama Canal to the Cocos Islands to the Galapagos Islands, and finally to Tahiti, where he left the ship. With war approaching, he was eager to join the Navy, and was accepted into the Navy submarine program. He attended submarine school at Groton, Conn., and began his submarine career on the USS R-17, a WWI vintage submarine patrolling off Montauk Point, Long Island, N.Y. during the winter of 1941/42. He then was assigned to the Portsmouth Navy Base to become part of the first crew of the submarine USS Halibut, under construction at that yard. The Halibut left Portsmouth for Pearl Harbor in June of 1942. Over the next two years, he crewed on the Halibut for six patrols, two to the Aleutian Islands, two to the East Coast of the Japanese home islands, and two to the Japanese occupied islands near Truk and Kwajalein. On his return from the war in 1945, he married Jane Sickels of Falmouth. They resided at Middle Road, Cumberland, for the next five years, then moved to a newly constructed home at Johnson Road, Falmouth. During the same time, he began employment at Handy Boat Service, and eventually became a part-owner. He subsequently worked for Gould Equipment Company in South Portland and finished his working career as building manager of the Maine National Bank home office on Congress Street in Portland. In his retirement years he enjoyed building boats and living on the Falmouth shore at Casco Terrace. He and Jane moved to Oceanview in 2001. Jane predeceased him on Nov. 12, 2004; as well as his brothers Ludwell and Philip. He is survived by his son, William H. Howison and daughter-in-law Julie L. Howison of Portland; a grandson, Mark Howison of Oakland, Calif.; sisters-in-law Katherine Hayes of Falmouth and Jean Sickels of Weld; and several nieces and nephews, Gail Karkos of Lisbon Falls, Lynn Dawson of Orleans, Mass., Lee Howison of Cumberland, Lincoln Hayes of Auburn, Robert Hayes of Auburn, Nancy Conant of Thousand Oaks, Calif., Peter Hayes of Scarborough, Daniel Hayes of Topsham, Jill Sickels of Crested Butte, Colo., Craig Sickels of Freeport, Steven Sickels of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., David Sickels of Encinitas, Calif., and John Sickels of Cape Coral, Calif. A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. The family wishes to thank the staff of Maine Veterans' Home for all of their efforts and kindnesses in caring for him. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in Richard's memory be made to: The Maine Parkinson's Society 5 Bucknam Rd. Suite 1-A Falmouth, Maine 04105
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Obit Messenger results for 05/31/09.
