1929 – 2016

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Rodney Harlow Howes passed away at the age of 87 on Thursday, Sept. 1, in San Antonio, Texas.

Rod was born in Jay on April 26, 1929, the son of Wilfred Howes and Carrie Harlow Howes. Together they had five children, Madeline, Robert, Rodney, Gloria and Carroll. He was predeceased by his parents; both sisters; and brother, Robert.

He grew up in Jay with an interest in sports, especially football and baseball, and was driving a gravel truck for the lumber company by the time he was 13. He attended college on a football scholarship at Colby College in Waterville and then left Maine for Texas to join the U.S. Air Force as an aviation cadet. Rod later received his master’s degree from the University of Illinois in 1973 while stationed at Scott Air Force Base.

While in Texas, he met MaryAnn Stark, an occupational therapist for the U.S. Army, who outranked him at the time as an Army second lieutenant. They married in 1954 and spent the rest of their lives together, until MaryAnn’s death in 2012. After his first tour in the U.S. Air Force, he became a civilian auditor for the state of California and joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves. In 1963, he was involuntarily recalled to active duty, enjoyed flying more than auditing, and stayed in the U.S. Air Force for a total of 24 years.

While in the Air Force, he flew 10 different aircraft, and the family lived in four foreign countries, as well as multiple stateside assignments. Lt. Col Howes retired from the Air Force in 1983 having served during peacetime and during wartime; and having earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Meritorious Service Medals, and eight Air Medals, among numerous other awards and medals.

After retirement, Rod worked for McDonald Douglas Aircraft Corporation from 1986 to 1994 as a technical rep for the USAF on the KC-10 at Barksdale AFB. After his second retirement, he and MaryAnn continued to move, travel and build airplanes until they finally settled down in San Antonio, Texas.

Rod is survived by his brother, Carroll Howes and his wife, Sandra; his three children, Robert Howes and his wife, Blanca, Andrew Howes and his wife, Daphne, and Nancy Chambers and her husband, Dale; his nine grandchildren, Joshua Howes, Emily Howes, Andrea Howes, Mitchell Howes, John Howes, William Howes, Olivia Howes, Rebecca Chambers, and Rachel Chambers; and his two great-grandchildren, Logan Howes, and Lucy Howes.