Obituary of John Howell

"John Brazier Howell, beloved father, grandfather, friend, and Baltimore curmudgeon, passed away peacefully at Roland Park Place on September 27th, 2021, one month after celebrating his 99th birthday. Born in Los Angeles to A. Brazier Howell, former instructor at Johns Hopkins, and Margaret Gray Sherk, he served in WWII in France in the communications infantry and only ever saw the Eiffel Tower from the back of a Jeep. After the war, he married Marguerite Banks in Baltimore. The marriage ended in 1977 and later in life he found his sweetheart, Lauretta Gordon. His long career at Johns Hopkins as an instructor of electrical engineering lasted well into his 90’s, ending only when they stopped providing parking for his horse and buggy. He will be remembered for his theater and opera roles, and his resonant tenor singing voice. Lisa DeNike, theatre critic for The Baltimore Sun, wrote in 1982 that his performance as “the feisty, concerned and comical” Giles Corey in The Crucible at Essex Community College was “worth the trip just to see him, ...embodying the part with a spirit surpassing anything else offered on stage that night.” John Howell is survived by his daughter Ann W Howell and her husband Tom Hickey, and two granddaughters, Elinor Howell (and her wife Jessica LaVigne Howell) and Sarah Hickey, who have more than enough extra copies of his family tree to go around. Interment will be a private affair at Loudon Park Cemetery with a possible celebration in the spring of 2022 when Covid restrictions allow."