Lebanon, N.H. —
Dr. Harry E. Howe passed away on Monday, Sept. 12, 2018, in Lebanon. Harry was born in Tunbridge, Vt. on Oct. 7, 1921, to Etta and Silvester Howe. He was raised on a dairy farm with eight siblings and attended local elementary and high school. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1943 where he had enrolled in the Advanced Officer Candidate School (ROTC). Two weeks later he reported for active duty in the U.S. Army at Fort Devens, Mass. and shortly thereafter was sent to Fort Benning, Ga., to begin Infantry Officer Candidate School. He graduated and was commissioned a second lieutenant on Sept. 11, 1943. After additional training, he arrived in Greenock, Scotland on June 28, 1944, and entered World War II as an Infantry Platoon leader.
During this time, he and some of his men were captured and sent to a German prisoner of war camp. They were liberated for a short period of time, but were then recaptured. He remained a POW until the end of the war in the European theater. He was released as a POW and arrived back in the U.S., by boat, at Norfolk, Va. on July 1, 1945. That summer he helped on the home farm and resumed his relationship with Theo Orr, of Vershire, Vt., who he had met while attending the University of Vermont. After a short engagement, they set a wedding date for Aug. 18, 1945. Following their marriage, he resumed his tour of active duty and was discharged in December of 1945.
Later that same month, he accepted a teaching position in Poultney, Vt. and the following fall returned to the University of Vermont on the G.I. Bill to earn his Master’s Degree in Education. During this time their first child, Gregory, was born. That fall he was hired as a high school math and science teacher in Barre, Vt. It soon became clear that his teacher’s salary could not support his family, so he applied for medical school, something that he had thought about for a number of years. He was admitted to the University of Vermont Medical School, Class of 1952, and moved the family to Burlington. He attended four years of medical school and four years of surgical training. He then had one year as an intern and another as a resident. During that time he and his wife had two more children, Douglas and Fay. In July of 1957 the family moved to Massena, N.Y., bought a home, and Harry started a private surgical practice. He remained in Massena for about a year and a half before moving the family to Canton, N.Y., a small university town, to continue his practice until his retirement on July 1, 1987. During their time in Canton both Harry and Theo were very active in the community. Shortly after arriving in Canton he became the school physician at Canton Agricultural and Technical Institute. He also had a long-term relationship with St. Lawrence University providing trauma care and became the athletic team physician. Harry ultimately received a North Country Citation in 1977 from St. Lawrence University, a Distinguished Citizen Award from Canton College in 1986, and was inducted into the SUNY Canton Wall of Fame in 2013. In 1983 he and Theo established a Nursing scholarship at SUNY Canton where, for many years, Theo was a member of the Canton College Foundation Board. Also during their time in Canton Harry and Theo built, acquired, and managed residential rental properties. Those businesses continue today, over 50 years later.
Upon retirement in 1988, the couple moved to Louisville, N.Y. where they purchased a two hundred acre farm, raised registered Polled Herefords and had a large vegetable garden. They also enjoyed extensive travels around the world.
In 1996 they moved back to Vermont for a second retirement in Quechee. They were very active in community affairs as well as recreational opportunities at the Quechee Club including skiing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and golf. In 2015 they moved to Harvest Hill, a retirement community, in Lebanon.
For 18 years, Harry spent time writing and then published his memoirs, A Journey from Tunbridge. Copies of the book were presented to the UVM Medical School and the Historical Society of Tunbridge.
Harry enjoyed many outdoor activities including gardening, fly fishing for trout and loved hunting deer, turkeys, waterfowl, and upland game. He was a member of the Stillwater Club of Canton, N.Y. for over 20 years. Until recently, he and Theo would return to Canton every spring to participate in their son’s maple sugar operation.
Harry was the last of his siblings to pass. He lost his wife of 71 years, Theo, on Dec 3, 2016. His son, Douglas, passed in 1996. He is survived by his son Gregory; daughter Fay; and grandchildren Graham Howe, Carrie Capella, Avery Weber, and Ian Weber. There are also great-grandchildren, Eloise and Harry Howe, children of Graham and his wife Liz, and Vivian Capella, daughter of Carrie and her husband Tyler Capella. Having time with and caring about family were high priorities for Harry. He had a very successful and busy life and he created and left a wonderful legacy. He provided very generous support for the UVM Medical School and SUNY Canton. Harry lead by example and was not afraid of hard work. In his first year of retirement on the farm in Louisville he cut, split, and stacked eighty face cords of firewood.
Memorial contributions may be made in Harry’s honor. A tax deductible donation may be made to “SUNY Canton College Foundation Office” c/o the Dr. Harry E. Howe Endowed Scholarship and mailed to, The SUNY Canton College Foundation, 34 Cornell Drive, Canton, NY 13617. The scholarship is given yearly to a student in the nursing program. Gregory Howe has agreed to match all donations.
A celebration of life service will be held at Harvest Hill in the Dwinell Room at 23 Alice Peck Day Drive, Lebanon on Oct. 20, 2018, at 1:30 p.m.
A private message of sympathy for the family can be shared at www.boardwayandcilley.com.