Richard P. (Dick) Howell was born in Butte Montana on December 6, 1919, the second eldest of the six children born to Richard and Mary (Brown) Howell. His earliest years were spent in that mining town, but his family moved to Laurelhurst, near Seattle, Washington, where he spent his teenage years, of which there are a few wild stories. He entered college first at DePauw University in Indiana. Then he followed his family out to Palo Alto, California, attending Stanford University. He ultimately graduated from the University of Washington, with a degree in Mathematics. During the war he enlisted in the Navy and had various duties including shore patrol in San Francisco and as an officer on the USS Kingsbridge, an attack troop transport. He met his future wife, Mary McLean, while in San Francisco, and in 1944 they married in the “Little Chapel Around the Corner” in New York City. After the war, he and his wife first settled in Milwaukee where they had two children, Richard and John. At that time, Dick worked as a financial systems analyst for Square-D corporation. The family then moved out to Palo Alto, California, in the early 50’s, and Dick and Mary built their own home in a little community called Ladera, behind Stanford University. In 1957, Mary was stricken with Polio, which left her severely disabled. But with rehabilitation at Warm Springs and other hospitals, and with assistance from her husband, she was able to regain her ability to walk and the use of her arms. Dick began working at SRI, in their Management Sciences group in the mid 50’s. His work included review of antimissile systems and other defense projects. He also published studies of manpower mobility in the Defense Industry. He left SRI in the late ‘70’s, to do a stint in consulting. Ultimately he joined his brother Edward’s insurance firm, Design Professionals, and when that firm moved its operations down to Monterey in the early 80’s, Dick and his Mary took up residence at Hacienda Carmel where they had lived since. His retirement years were devoted to tennis at the Carmel Valley Racquet Club, and to activities at Hacienda Carmel. His wife passed away in September, 2009. Dick Howell passed away suddenly, as a result of pneumonia, on November 29, 2012. He is survived by his son Richard, Richard’s wife Theresa, and their daughter Carson; his son John; his brother in-law Robert McLean and his family; his younger brother Robert and youngest brother Thomas; and many nieces and nephews.
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