Howard J. Ober

Howard Joel Ober, 76, died on Monday February 15, 2016 at Empath Hospice Palm Harbor. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Judith Diane Ober, his four children, Alan Ober, Allison Ober, Debbie Hall, and Michelle Lemagnen, his five grandchildren, Victoria Ober, Brittney Ober, Dylan Ober, Sophia Ober, and Hannah Ober, as well as many close family members and friends. Howard lived a rich and diverse life both personally and professionally. He was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn to Sydney and Ann Ober with an excited older sister, Barbara, patiently waiting. When he was a teen, his family moved north to New Rochelle where he attended New Rochelle High School. It was there that he met his first wife, Louise Kravetz and also lost a spot on the baseball team to a young Sandy Koufax. He earned his bachelor's degree at New York University. Throughout school, he moonlighted as a taxi driver to support himself and his new wife. Soon after graduating, his son Alan was bornI� three years later Allison came along. In 1968, Howard, Louise and their young children moved to Great Neck, Long Island where he worked for his father's thriving construction company, "REBO Estates". (REBO is OBER spelled backwards.) In 1971, Howard and Louise separated and he moved to Florida to start his own construction company. Soon after, in 1973, he met Judith Diamond and her two children. Howard and Judith fell in love and married three years later. Howard, Judith, Debbie and Michelle moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 1982 where new construction opportunities abounded. In 1999, he started his own steel fabrication company which prospered for nearly ten years. Howard and Judith ultimately returned to Florida to be close to family. Howard will be fondly remembered for his wry sense of humor, his quirky antics, and for his deep, abiding love of baseball. After the Dodgers left Brooklyn, his loyalty to his hometown remained steadfast and he begrudgingly switched his allegiance to the Mets. In addition to baseball, Howard reserved a place in his heart for chicken parmigiana, cheesecake from the Bluebay Diner in Queens and coffee ice cream at 9:21 pm.. In his retirement, Howard happily returned to his taxicabdriving roots and became an Uber driver. Howard Ober, husband, father, grandfather, and friend, will be remembered with love. A memorial service for Howard will be held this Sunday the 21 of February at 2pm in the Recreation Room at Mainstreet Apartments, 1100 South Missouri Avenue, Clearwater, Florida 33756. David C. Gross Funeral Homes, Belcher Road Chapel in Clearwater is serving the family. Service Information