Duane Howard

Duane Howard passed away November 12, 2019 after a valiant battle with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Lucille Snyder Howard and by his brother Ronald Howard. His survivors include his wife, Lois Hollander Howard of Littleton, Colorado and his children with his former wife, Deanna Davis; Greg Howard (Lynda) of Granite Bay, California and Kathleen Goodhart (John) of Tiburon, California. He is also survived by six grandchildren; Rebecca, Jeff and Kristin Howard, and Camille, Caroline and Mariel Goodhart and two nephews, Mark Howard and Phillip Howard of Findlay, Ohio. Duane graduated from high school in Findlay, Ohio, and then attended The Ohio State University, where he received an aeronautical engineering degree. He then served as a lieutenant in the Air Force for three years, stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before beginning his career as an aeronautical engineer for the Martin Corporation (later Martin Marietta) in 1960, Duane worked as a ski instructor at Winter Park, Colorado. After four years at Martin Marietta in the Denver area, he left Colorado for a year to work in Georgia, but the pull of the mountains was too great and he returned to Colorado for good in 1965. Duane worked for Martin Marietta until his retirement, and attended the University of Colorado to pursue a Masters in Civil Engineering. Among the projects Duane worked on while at Martin Marietta was the Viking Mars Lander in 1975 and 1976. His passion for the outdoors and mountains spurred the purchase of land to build a duplex cabin in Vail in 1962. He bought the property with his close friend Tom deBooy, whom he met in the Air Force. Duane had many adventures through the years in the Rocky Mountains where he skied, fished, hiked and biked. Duane caught countless trout while fishing with flies that he had tied. He continued to enjoy all of these activities through his 70s until MSA eventually slowed him down in his 80s. Duane lived life to the fullest and he had a wonderful retirement with a wide array of interests and activities to keep him busy. In addition to outdoor activities, he was an accomplished painter, especially with water colors, and also enjoyed playing keyboards and the piano. At home in Littleton, he was an avid biker and passionate tennis player. There were few bike paths in the southern part of the Denver area that he didn’t ride at least once. At one point Duane was ranked first in tennis in the 50 and older division in the Denver area. His outdoor activities kept him very fit for his entire life. Duane also truly loved to travel and he journeyed frequently with Lois or his friend Tom on trips throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico and even China. These trips would often include skiing, biking or hiking. Duane carefully planned his travels and chronicled them with beautiful photos and paintings. His ability to identify the places he had been and the mountains he had climbed was truly remarkable. Duane’s other passions included his love of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Denver Broncos. He had Bronco season tickets for over 50 years and was a patient fan suffering through many losing seasons. He braved all weather conditions, never missed a home game in the early years and always vociferously booed the “no shows” when attendance was announced at games. His patience and loyalty finally paid off when he watched them defeat the Raiders and Steelers in the playoffs to go to their first Super Bowl in 1977. He later attended two of their Super Bowls and watched them win their second one in Miami in 1999. Duane was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He will be missed by all. A family Celebration of Life will be held in late June in East Vail. Contributions can be made to the MSA Coalition (https://www.multiplesystematrophy.org/msa-donation/).