Milton W. Howe

Milton W. Howe has moved on to his next great adventure. He passed away on September 3, 2023 from complications of Parkinson's Disease. Milt was 81 and is survived by his wife Nancy and children Noel Howe and Romeny Andrews, and grandsons Balin and Orion Andrews and Jeremy and Adrien Howe. Milt was predeceased by his daughter Danielle Howe and his parents Everett and Ruth Howe. Milt was raised in Orinda, California where he ran track and cross country for Miramonte High School before going to UCSB for college where he met Nancy. After graduating from UCSB in 1965 with a BS in Geology, he and Nancy moved to Princeton, NJ where he got his PhD in Geology from Princeton in 1970. Milt was an exploration geologist and spent most of his career working for BP in San Francisco where he became chief geologist of BP North America. Milt's career took him, Nancy and family to live in such places as Morgan City, LA, Jakarta, Indonesia, London, England and Dallas, Texas, but Milt lived most of his life in Bonny Doon in the coastal mountains just north of Santa Cruz, CA where he and Nancy built a house (with help) in the redwoods and lived there for most of 50 years. Milt travelled extensively (for work and pleasure) visiting places such as Patagonia, Chile, Colombia, Scotland, Pakistan (including being at the Kyber Pass during the war with the Soviet Union), Egypt, Slovenia, Spain, Italy and Switzerland almost any place with a mountain. He spoke Spanish, Indonesian and German as well as English.While living in Indonesia Milt's main focus was the geology of West Irian (New Guinea). He had occasion to travel by small boat to a remote village that was rarely visited by outsiders and upon disembarking he was met by the village priest. They soon realized that the best way to communicate was in English. The priest declared "I have heard of you. You are known as The Man Who Eats Stones". This came about because Milt would test the rocks he found by biting them to ascertain the grit texture/size and therefore determine whether the rock was sandstone or siltstone. This news had to have come via the "Jungle Telegraph" as there was no other means of communication. Milt treated everyone the same and as a result had many friends from all walks of life and from most continents and many countries. His love of travel began because his parents were active in the International House at UC Berkeley where his father was an engineering professor for over 40 years, and they frequently befriended students from all over the world. Those experiences were confirmed when he spent part of his junior year in high school living in Germany while his father was on sabbatical. He found it fascinating to learn that other countries worked very well even though they spoke a different language and had different cultures. Milt was a runner, skier, golfer, traveler, woodworker and he grew his own grapes and made his own wine. He and Nancy called Squaw Valley their home-away-from-home in the winter months and spent more than 30 years skiing in many locations in the Western mountains during those years. Milt didn't just do these things, he excelled at them he was "a man in the arena" in the true sense of that phrase. Milt had an incredible work ethic, he chose to embrace the work and give the effort, he chose to participate, he got the most he could from himself. He had a life well-lived!Remembrances can be made to: Robert Norris Brunton Award Dept. of Earth Science 1006 Webb Hall UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA 93106Or to Hospice of Santa Cruz. A celebration of life will be held in Spring 2024. Please contact the family for further information.