Charles David Howe (1938-2021)
Charles David Howe, 83, died March 15th, 2021 in Port Charlotte, Florida. He retired from Babcock & Wilcox after 33 years of service. Dave was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Dorothy Howe; his loving wife, Ruth Howe (Redwine); brother, Harry Howe; sister-in-law Carol Howe; nephew, Jimmy Howe; son-in law, Bill Smith; and step-grandson, Bryan Smith. He is survived by his stepdaughter, Rosemarie Smith, of Port Charlotte, Fla.; granddaughter, Michelle; great-grandchildren, Taylor and Aiden. He also leaves brothers, Jim, Ralph and Jackie, Rick and Ruth, Bob and Becky, Ed, Don, Mike and Pat, Victor and Pauline; sister, Dorothy and Ken Christner, all from the Akron area; as well as many nephews and nieces. The family will gather for private services at a later date.
Many thanks to his daughter, Rosemarie who took great care of him, along with Fawcett Memorial Hospital-Hospice, who was with him during his final moments here on this earth.
Dave loved and enjoyed being with his entire family and always remembered to call us on our birthdays. We all love you, Dave and you will truly be missed until we meet again. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ welcome Dave into His home.
Memories
Many years back when Dave was in town to be exact it was July 2 & 3 2004 a Friday & Saturday when he had his pickup truck with the 8ft bed. When I got off work Friday morning we went to breakfast at Bob Evans then came back to the house he helped me replace the outside drain system near the drive way.
He showed me how to do it, we dug the yard up from the front of the house all the way down to the main side walk had broken up old tile. He took me over to Lowe’s and we pick up 50 foot of corrugated piping came home had to break up part of the side walk near the front porch where the spouting came down, we laid in the piping and leveled it off so the water would go down to the street.
The next day Dave & I, Jim, Don & Vic had breakfast at Bob Evans. I will never forget what he did for me.
Bob Howe
When Mom was still living, Dave would come up from Georgia to visit for a couple weeks. He did this a couple times each year, once in the summer and again near the Thanksgiving or Christmas Holidays. He would stay with Mom and make his rounds visiting with each of his brothers, sister and some of his friends. Come Friday’s, I would always take Mom out to dinner and he would join us. And on Saturdays, Bob, Dave and I would go to breakfast and we would invite as many of the family that wanted to get up early and join us. Sometimes we had good gathering and sometimes it was just the three of us. After Mom died, he would come and stay at my place. I had a small back bedroom that I maintained especially for his visits.
During those days I was working and we had many a conversation about my work and he would relate to me many an anecdote of working with Dad up in Cleveland and his time at B&W and when he was Union Representative. He also did construction work and was very knowledgeable about roofing and carpentry’n. We would talk about the family and how things were going and BS mostly. He had a lady friend he liked to visit and sometimes he was out till way after dark.
I remember many years earlier a short time after Dad died, I bumped into Dave at the Acme on Manchester Road and I couldn’t get over how much he resembled Dad. And so, having him visit and stay with me, was sort of like having Dad around. One year when Dave came up to visit, this is when he had his big Ford pickup truck, he brought with him a work bench which I now use in my small basement woodshop, a variety of tools some that he used at B&W, some that belonged to Dad, like an old handsaw that Dad gave him when he first got married. A couple of old machinery handbooks and one about electrical engineering.
Dave helped me fix a few things around the house when he stayed. One day when I came home from work he was in the back yard and had replaced all the trim work around the man door for the garage. One time the kitchen drain pipe that led to the basement sewer rotted away in one spot and it started leaking. He showed me how to use the sawzall and we cut a 3 inch section of the pipe out where it was leaking and put a rubber boot in its place. He tried to help out wherever he could when he was staying with me and often times had dinner on the table when I would get home from work. He had a special he called “dog-chow,” a mix of cubed potatoes, wieners he would cut up and mix it altogether with some Mexican corn. Supper always taste better when someone else makes it!
One of the things I remember most about Dave, is his uncanny knack of identifying old cars. He could tell you what make and model it was just by looking at it. It was always nice to have Dave stay with me and after he left to go home his presence was keenly missed.
Don Howe
A small tribute to my brother Dave. As youngsters he was my hero and my leader. Where ever he went I went. He always had my back. Later in life when my house needed painted he was there to paint, when I needed to move he was there with a moving van to help me move, when my car broke down he was there to help fix it and if we couldn’t fix it he lent me his thunderbird so I could get to work.
Dave and his wife Ruth and Carol and I would oft times go bowling after midnight. At Christmas time, when my boys were young, he was there with toys and presents for them. Many a new years eve we spent together until the we hours of the morning. I will never forget him! and I will always love him! God Bless you Dave! Love!
Jim Howe
