Howard J. Lonergan

Died on September 3, 2007 at Pleasant View Center, Concord, New Hampshire. Born on December 11, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York, Howard graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1938, and worked in an ice cream factory and played semi-professional football. He attended Bucknell, Class of 1943, on a football scholarship, where he majored in mechanical engineering and played both football and basketball. In 1941, Howard enlisted in the Army Air Corps and, six days after Pearl Harbor, started pilot training at Maxwell Field, Alabama. A ground loop in a Sherman PT 17 primary trainer in February 1942 turned Howard into a navigator, and by the late summer of 1942 he was navigating his B-24 Liberator, The Eager Beaver, to Hawaii where his squadron conducted reconnaissance flights, anticipating that the Japanese would return. Howard's squadron was the first bomb group into the Pacific and was assigned to Iron Range, which was an air field carved out of the Northern Australian jungle. He flew 240 hours of combat missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on July 16, 1943, and again on August 4, 1943, and the Air Medal on August 27, 1943 for his bravery in combat service. On July 3, 1943 Howard married Laura Mae McDowell in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. The couple moved a number of times to accommodate Howard's military service as a Combat Navigator Instructor at Army Air Force Bases in Pocatello, Idaho; Muroc, California; Boise, Idaho; and Moses Lake, Washington. After the war, Howard returned to Bucknell on the G.I. Bill, graduating in 1947. After graduation he joined the F.B.I. as a Special Agent where he served for 5 years before pursuing entrepreneurial interests in the manufacturing of precious metal electrical contacts, ultimately forming Precision Metallurgical Corporation of Millis, Massachusetts. Howard and Laura retired in 1980 and enjoyed visiting family, traveling, and playing golf. Among his many interests, Howard was a dedicated gardener and an avid reader with a special interest in history. They were longtime members of the Wellesley Country Club and the Turtle Creek Country Club. Howard was predeceased by Laura, his wife of 59 years. He is survived by his sister Dorothy Clare Currie of Kure Beach, North Carolina, his son Michael McDowell Lonergan of Concord, New Hampshire, and his daughter Rebecca Mae Bryant and her husband Richard Bryant of Sherborn, Massachusetts, as well as his grandsons Dr. Joseph Tyler Lonergan of San Diego, Kyle Andrew Lonergan of New York City, and David Bryant of Boston, and his great-grandsons Robert Wylie Lonergan, Oscar Howard Lonergan, and Phineas Michael Lonergan. The family will celebrate Howard's life with a private Graveside Service. Arrangements by Bennett Funeral Home, CONCORD, NH.