Frank T. Howard
Frank T. Howard passed away peacefully last Friday, February 3rd, at his home in Newport Beach at the age of 95.
Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, he moved with his mother and father to southern California at the age of six first settling in Redlands. At nine years of age his mother passed away and he was sent to St. Johns Military Academy in Los Angeles. Upon graduation he moved with his aunt and uncle to Glendale where he attended Hoover High School and met the love of his life, Suzanne Stillman who attended Glendale High School. His college years were spent at St. Marys in Moraga.
Frank and Sue married in 1941 and were sweethearts for 68 years until Sues passing in 2009. They raised three children – Michael A. Howard, Kathleen M. Conrad and Sally H. Ojala and delighted in their 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
FTH was a prominent businessman in Glendale for many years, running very successful construction/development companies including the Frank T. Howard Company and Howard Development. He also had successful joint ventures with the Howard Platz Group and Watt Howard. The construction end built many franchises for banking and restaurants including Glendale Federal, Gibraltar S&L, Marie Callenders, Arbys and over 100 Bobs Big Boy restaurants, to name just a few, as well as numerous apartment buildings
The development company was responsible for the transformation of Eyesore Island, vacant land left by the electric red car in the 1950s that ran along Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale and many other such projects in southern California.
Frank was a long standing member of the Building Industry Association, was a Building Commissioner for the City of Glendale and served on several boards including, Glendale Memorial Hospital, St. Vincents Hospital in Los Angeles, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, the Glendale YMCA, Valley National Bank and Twelve Oaks Lodge in La Crescenta.
Always a devout Catholic, Frank was bestowed with the honor of becoming a member of the Knights of Malta, a lay religious order within the Church. He anonymously gave to many charities and scholarships.
Frank and Sue traveled the world with their family and friends and both loved sailing, boating, anytime spent on the water.
He will be sorely missed by those who loved him but they take comfort in knowing that he is once again with his Sue as they are both at their reward in everlasting peace with God.
A funeral mass will be held at 10:00am, Friday, February 17th at St. John Vianney Catholic Church on Balboa Island, reception to follow.
Donations in his memory to the Armed Services YMCA – Camp Pendleton would be greatly appreciated. ASYMCA, Box 555028, Camp Pendleton, CA, 92055 or CampPendletonASYMCA.org.