Howard E. Woodward, Jr. of North Manchester, Indiana passed away at 5:50 a.m. on Saturday, February 9, 2019 at Peabody Retirement Community in North Manchester at the age of 74. He was born on May 17, 1944 in Urbana, Illinois to Howard Eugene Woodward and Doris (Wright) Woodward. His parents relocated to the North side of Dewart Lake in 1948, thus Howard graduated from the Milford Public School System attending classes in the same building from first grade through the twelfth grade.
He enjoyed being a student, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1965, then a Master’s degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern University. Howard did have a desire to continue his education to study Atomic Energy, but ran out of time in his life. His notable achievements in life were, while working at Bell Labs, assisting in the development of the original integrated circuit boards and later early Random Access Memory Modules which we know today as RAM in our computers.
While at Bell he was also the Operations Manager for Pacific Telephone Company where he was responsible for maintaining long distance circuits into and out of central Los Angeles. He left Bell for Hughes Aircraft in California and Arizona developing defense system electronics and weaponry that was used in the Gulf War and beyond. In 1992 Howard left Hughes Aircraft, relocating back to Indiana from Southern California to fulfill his dream of retiring back to the lake life with which he grew up.
Upon early retirement, Howard went back to school at Indiana University Fort Wayne, earning an MBA and applying his knowledge of the aerospace and tech industry toward the stock market. Howard served the community as past treasurer of the Kosciusko County Democratic Party, Chapman Lake Conservation Association and the Peabody Foundation. He was past director of the Lakeland Art Association, a member of the Warsaw Kiwanis Club and the Milford High School Alumni Association.
Howard was a man that loved to learn, and will be dearly missed by his family and friends. He will be lovingly remembered by his son: Scot Woodward, PhD Mathematics (Sunnyvale, California); three brothers: Richard Woodward (Fort Wayne, Indiana); Bruce (Rebecca) Woodward (Warsaw, Indiana); Joseph (Colleen) Woodward (Mishawaka, Indiana); two sisters: Marilyn Woodward (Kingston, Washington); Carolyn (James) Garrigus (Laurinburg, North Carolina); and his step-mother: Wanda Coates Woodward (North Manchester, Indiana). He was preceded in death by his parents.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 14, 2019 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw, Indiana. His funeral service will be conducted at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 15, 2019 at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home and officiated by Chaplain Denise Schwaberow. Burial will follow with a private graveside service at Oakwood Cemetery of Warsaw.
Memorial donations may be directed to Chapman Lakes Foundation, P.O. Box 776, Warsaw, Indiana 46581-0776 and would be appreciated by the family.
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