W. Howard Trowbridge Jr.

W. Howard Trowbridge Jr.

AGE: 67 Hatfield, Mass.

W. Howard Trowbridge Jr., 67, passed away peacefully after a short illness on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011. He lived in Hatfield, Mass. Born Oct. 6, 1943 in Summit, he was the son of the late W. Howard Sr. and Ruth (Gutzwiller) Trowbridge. He lived in Manasquan and attended the Wall Township Schools, graduating from Wall High School in 1961. He attended Stevens Institute of Technology and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. His professional career began at ALCO Power, Inc. in Auburn, N.Y., where he worked as a manufacturing project and team manager and quality control engineer for 22 years. He moved to Chicago and worked for AB Dick as Manager of Manufacturing. The last 14 years, he was employed as Manager of Quality Assurance at DISSTON Co. in So. Deerfield, Mass.

Howard is survived by his sister, Noel Beder and her husband Jonathan of Simsbury, Conn.; his brother, Jack Jones Jr. of Spring Hill, Fla.; his nephews, Jack Jones III of Bothell, Wash., Robert Jones and his wife Jacqueline of Sterling, Mass., and Larry Jones and his wife Cathy of San Pablo, Calif.; his nephews and nieces, Andrew Beder and his wife Eva of East Granby, Conn., Kristoffer Beder and Jessica Beder of Boston, Mass.; and many cousins, great-nieces and nephews, great-great-nieces and nephews and friends.

Howard was a scuba diver and member of the New York State Divers Association (NYSDA). He had a love of history and dove on wrecks in the St. Lawrence River and great lakes. He was a mentor to many young people and taught scuba diving classes and coached weight lifting. Many young adults he coached became friends for life. He will be remembered for his love of teaching, boating, history, humor and traveling with his family and friends. He was a man of character will be missed.

Burial will be at the convenience of the family. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 2 in the Drozdal Funeral Home, 120 Damon Road, Northampton, Mass. Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to Steven Institute of Technology Fund, c/o Stevens Inst. of Tech., Hoboken, NJ, or the Hatfield Education Foundation, P.O. Box 702, Hatfield, MA 01038.