Carol Ann Howard

Services will be private. Interment US Military Academy, West Point New York will be held at a later date.

Carol Ann Howard (née Doyle) was born December 25, 1942 in Montclair Community Hospital, Montclair, New Jersey. She lived in West Orange NJ until her marriage to Bruce Howard at the Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity, West Point, New York, on November 15, 1964.

She attended elementary school through grade 8 in West Orange, NJ and Graduated from Our Lady of the Valley High School in Orange, NJ. She completed her BA degree at Kean University in Union New Jersey. Their son Bruce, Jr. was born in Germany on May 29, 1966 and brought home to the United States at the advanced age of 3 weeks; a minor mistake (typo?) on the Army travel orders, however, did say he was the approved minimum age of 3 months old.

Carol and Bruce’s Army assignments included Nurnberg Germany; Ft Bragg (now Ft Liberty), NC; Ft Sill, Oklahoma; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; USMA West Point, New York; Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, VA; Picatinny Arsenal, NJ; and the Pentagon, Washington, DC. Carol lived in West Orange NJ while Bruce was on unaccompanied tours to Vietnam and Korea. Carol’s intelligence and engaging personality served her well during this period of constant change, working first in Germany for the US Forces Exchange system then an Aerospace firm in Michigan. She was an elementary school teacher in New Jersey while Bruce was assigned on unaccompanied duty in Vietnam and Korea. During their assignment to West Point, she worked as a legal assistant. In those days, it was not “fashionable” for officer’s wives to work, so Carol was a trendsetter. While her work was accomplished with no formal acknowledgement, she enthusiastically undertook her social and charitable responsibilities; Carol was an excellent bridge player and active in adult literacy programs. Other wives followed her example.

People loved to talk with Carol; if she spoke with anyone for at least a couple of minutes, she would know their family history; where they lived and had lived; how many children or grandchildren they had as well as any major obstacles their family was facing.

Following Bruce’s retirement from the Army they lived in Westport, CT for 13 years then were transferred to Annapolis, MD. Carol followed her natural interest in people and while in Westport, worked in Human Resources for a financial services company. She earned certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources as well as certification as a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist. After their transfer to Annapolis, MD in 1997 Carol became a successful real estate agent.

Carol doted on her family and is survived by her husband Bruce; her son Bruce, Jr; her daughter-in-law Yumiko; and her Granddaughter Manami.

We miss her intensely.

She will be interred in the columbarium at the West Point cemetery. Unfortunately, as there is no room for flowers at the planned gravesite service, so please make any desired contributions to an organization of your choice. Suggestions are included below:

Lung Cancer Foundation of America (LCFA). LCFA supports cancer research with a focus on “transformative changes”. This means groundbreaking research that can lead to potential cures in the very near future:

https://lcfamerica.org/donate/

American Lung Association (ALA). ALA supports all people with lung cancer but has a niche in uniting women with lung cancer which can differ from lung cancer in men in many ways. ALA funds lung disease and lung cancer medical research, new treatments, CT screenings, lung health education and more:

https://action.lung.org/site/Donation2?c

"A Plastic Ocean", https://www.aplasticocean.foundation , is a movie and an organization dedicated to cleaning the world's oceans of microplastics and other trash. This was an issue very dear to Carol:

https://give.asia/charity/a-plastic-ocean-foundation