William Guilford Howard

William Guilford Howard, 90, passed away Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at the Schenectady Center, where he was cared for by Dorothy and her loving staff. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Laura M. (Bailey) Howard.
Born April 24, 1933, in Albany, New York, he was the son of the late Guilford R. and Julia (Holloway) Howard. Guilford had served in the Marines during World War 1 and inspired great patriotic values in his son.

After graduation from high school, Mr. Howard joined the United States Marine Corps in January 1953. He served stateside during the Korean War but gained a quick promotion to staff sergeant while assigned to various Marine Corps Aviation Units on the East Coast. Discharged in January 1956, he was immensely proud of his service and became a Life Member of the Marine Corps League and the American Legion.
Mr. Howard worked as a service tech for Wallace & Tiernan, later Pennwalt Corporation, installing municipal water treatment systems, until starting his own successful company, Delmar Service Contractors. While with Wallace & Tiernan, he was responsible for fieldwork throughout the Northeast. There were few towns in New England that he did not visit for work. Despite this hectic travel schedule, family vacations always involved more driving to get to Civil War battlefields in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He gave everything he could to his family and got rewarded by helping and supporting them during both good times and bad.

He was a natural engineer who instinctively knew how things worked. This innate gift was later the bane of medical professionals as he was often able to disable the medical devices that had been deployed to improve his health. He could fix anything, although his solutions were often unconventional. He was an inventor who considered problems and reconfigured them for innovative solutions. He was a wonder. Always thinking. Even when hit with dementia, he still paused to question why the wheels of his walker were mounted on the outside of the frame, when it would be easier to get through doors if they were on the inside.

He was one of those people who you wanted to be around when things were going bad. If you were washed up on some deserted island without resources, he was that steady presence of calm that you wanted. He was the guy who figured out how to make do and make better, and, we used to joke, the guy who figured out how to make a radio out of a coconut.
He was steady, even-tempered, and naturally smart. If you were lost, he would find the way, if you were in trouble, he would figure it out. When everything seemed to be falling apart, he was the one who calmly put the pieces back together.
He saved the lives of two people while he was on this earth. He never talked about it, but those whose lives he impacted did. One called the house on Christmas many years ago to thank him. My Dad did not take the call. He was embarrassed. He was private. When told that he could not come to the phone, the caller repeated the story of how my father had saved his life. After he hung up, I asked my Dad about it. I asked him why he did not take the call. In my father's typical, understated way, he replied, "I don't need any more friends."
That was William G. Howard. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, but his circle of friends was tight. He did not seek acclaim or notice, he just wanted to push forward.

Mr. Howard loved and was loved by his two children, William F. Howard (Paulette Morgan) and Thomas C. Howard (Andrea) but his true joy in life was his three grandchildren, Katherine (Stephen Wood) of Glusburn, England, Rebecca, and Michael.
He shared his lifetime with four great dogs, Dusty, Cocoa, Max, and his beloved Prince.
He was predeceased by sisters Gloria Pazera (Tony) and Phyllis Cauley (John).

A memorial service at the Gerald B.H. Solomon National Cemetery will be scheduled for a later date.

Donations in his name may be made to the Marine Corps League Foundation P.O. Box 151536 San Diego, CA 92175, and the Hudson Mohawk Humane Society 3 Oakland Avenue Menands, NY 12204.