Rev. Robert Howard

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — The Reverend Robert Lothrup Howard, 86, peacefully passed away on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 in Colorado Springs, Colo. under the loving care of his son, Jeremy.

Robert, or Bob as he was often called, was born to Lawrence and Ruth Howard (Lewis) in Bridgton on April 25, 1931, where he was raised, alongside four siblings: Arthur, Lewis, Mary and Rachel.

Learning was a lifelong discipline for Robert. As a child, he was known to read books even while he walked to and from school, and subscribed to National Geographic magazine at a very early age. After graduating from Bridgton High, he attended Pomona College (Pomona, Calif.), followed by Earlham College (Richmond, Ind.), where he received a bachelor of arts in 1953. Finally, in 1957, he graduated from Andover Newton Seminary, allowing him to pursue a career in ministry under the newly formed United Church of Christ.

During his long and rich time as an ordained pastor, Robert proudly served congregations in Craftsbury, Vt., Kingston, N.H., Thomaston, Hampden and Sterling, Colo., before finally retiring to Colorado Springs in 1997. Prior to his ministerial work, he ventured overseas, working as a missionary in both Japan and Micronesia for four years.

It was in Japan, where Robert first met his future wife-to-be, Evelyn E. Brown, a native Kansan, also teaching under the same missionary program. Several years later in 1966, they married in Kingston, N.H., remaining together as loving husband and wife for over 49 years, until the unfortunate passing of Evelyn in 2015.

Additional lifelong pursuits and passions for Robert included: correspondence, conversations with anybody and everybody (as long as the topic wasn’t sports or cars, and especially not sport cars), walking, traveling, missionary history, gardening and eating cookies!

Robert is survived by his son, Jeremy Howard (born 1970) also of Colorado Springs; and his twin sister, Rachel Bacon of Naples.

A funeral service was held at Robert’s longtime home church, Vista Grande Community Church (UCC) in Colorado Springs, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017.å