Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Howell, David Robert January 13, 2017
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Robert Woolfitt http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00034.html#0008401 April 30, 2022, 4:12 pm

Virginian-Pilot  January 22, 2017
Norfolk - David Robert Howell of 1525 DeGrasse Ave., Norfolk, Va., passed away in 
the early hours of January 13, 2017 at the age of seventy-three. He was born in 
Wayne, Michigan in November 1943, while the United States was still deeply 
involved in a World War. His earliest years were spent growing up in the home of 
his maternal grandparents James and Gladys Summers. After the war, like every 
other "military brat," David knew many different homes as his father Franklin 
Murray Howell, a highly decorated Navy fighter pilot, and mother Bernice Mary 
Howell moved from duty station to duty station. As the duty stations increased in 
numbers, so did his siblings--as he was joined by two brothers and three sisters. 

His first two years of high school took place in Chagauramus, a U.S. Naval base in 
Trinidad/Tobago. It was there at beautiful Macqueripe Bay, only blocks from 
military housing, where David spent most of his leisure hours in the warm azure 
waters of the Caribbean, developing the swimming skills that would later lead to 
him becoming a champion collegiate swimmer.

After Trinidad, the Howell clan got their final set of orders to Norfolk, Va. He 
finished high school at Norview High graduating in 1961. He then attended Old 
Dominion College (now Old Dominion University) where he was recruited to join the 
swim team. During his four-year tenure there, he set multiple records in the 50 
and 100 individual freestyle events that stood for many years.

After graduating college with a degree in mathematics, he followed in his father's 
footsteps and enlisted in the Navy. He served as Intelligence Officer aboard the 
USS Wright, a Saipan light aircraft carrier which served as the National Emergency 
Command Post Afloat.

After serving four years, he was honorably discharged and took a civil service job 
as a computer analyst in Charlottesville, Va., and later transferred back home to 
Norfolk. Following an early retirement Dave kept occupied with skydiving, hang 
gliding, sailing his catamaran in the Chesapeake Bay and riding his latest high-
powered motorcycle. He loved to ride, touring a large swath of the US as well as 
New Zealand. He was an avid reader as anyone who has visited his home can attest. 
A confirmed bachelor, his home décor could only be described as Early American 
Library Of Congress. There was an ocean of books that flooded every room in his 
home. His interests were truly eclectic with books on mathematics, physics, 
science, nature, history, and politics. He did a preponderance of his reading 
during the warmer months on his special bench located in Weyanoke Bird and 
Wildflower Sanctuary in West Ghent. He spent so much time there he was invited to 
join the committee that oversees the property.

Dave's mother "Bea" was responsible for instilling in him his kind and generous 
disposition--while he got his fierce determination to never back down from 
anything or anyone, when he knew he was in the right, from his father "FM."

David is survived by his two sisters Barbara "Jean" Howell Peele and Maureen 
(Rene) Elizabeth Kaufman; his two brothers Bruce Edward Howell and Branson James 
Howell. His youngest sister Julie Anne Decker passed away with cancer in June of 
2016. His aunt Janet "Karen" Wiltz, cousin Vicki Lynn Anglin, nieces Kimberly Jane 
Helms, Amy Rebecca Powell, Chelsea Howell Peele; nephews Steven Duane Howell 
(deceased), Michael Ali Howell, Adrian Thomas Bullock, Brett Alan Kaufman and 
Nikolas Howell Peele. Finally Romeo, his faithful African Gray Parrot. Dave's 
voice is memorialized every day as long as Romeo survives. He treated that bird 
like a member of the family.

It goes without saying that it's foolish to believe a man's life can be adequately 
summarized in this limited format. Those reading this that were so privileged to 
know David, knew him to be a unique, generous, and caring individual. He was a 
good man with a good heart and he was deeply loved by family and friends. In the 
end what more could you ask for. A small gathering of friends and family will take 
place at a date to be determined at St Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Norfolk where 
David will be buried with his mother.

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