Howard David Reinert III

Howard David Reinert III (1958-2025) grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, raised by his mother, Millie, alongside his younger brother, Billy. Their home on Aliso Drive was a two-level house with a basement where Howard's room was located, along with a baby grand piano. From an early age, Howard spent countless hours playing the piano and composing his own music. They also shared their home with an Afghan dog named Cheena.

Howard attended Highland High School, graduating in 1976. He remained in touch with many lifelong friends from that era like Steve, Raul, Bruce and Dave until he left his "earth suit," as he liked to call it.

Music remained central throughout Howard's life. He had a deep love for rock and roll and volunteered for years as a DJ at KUNM radio, back when DJs spun vinyl by hand and built sets live for the on-air audience. Howard had a classic deep late-night radio voice and a real talent for blending eclectic selections with the popular music of the day. Over his lifetime, he built a meticulously organized vinyl collection numbering in the thousands. That collection now lives on through Ethan, who inherited Howard's vinyl and coin collections and is currently wowing teenage girls with it (Howard would be so proud).

To many, Howard was affectionately known as Uncle Howard, or, as the boys called him when they were little, Uncle Powered.

Howard tried many different paths in search of a calling. He worked in his mother's women's fine clothing store in Old Town Albuquerque, took art classes at UNM, explored real estate, worked as a DJ, cooked in kitchens, and the Grant County Assessors Office. He never quite found the one thing that fully satisfied his mind or fulfilled him, though those who knew him best always recognized his intelligence, creativity, and unrealized potential.

He had a deep interest in psychology, philosophy, and early self-help teachings. Howard built a personal library of self help books and could talk about them at length, practicing what he understood often proved harder than explaining it.

Howard loved the outdoors. From his earliest friendships, he could often be found fishing throughout New Mexico and Colorado. There were few trout streams in northern New Mexico that Howard hadn't explored. He ice-fished Fenton Lake, fished the shores of Heron Lake, and returned again and again to Elk Creek in southern Colorado. Nature, music, and long conversations brought him peace. In later years, he especially loved watching the sunrise at Onomea Bay in Hawaii with his buddy Otto (friend till the end), coffee in hand.

Howard also found real joy and community through frisbee golf. He loved being out on the course with pros and novices alike, and the Big Island frisbee golf community meant a great deal to him.

At age 50, Howard survived a catastrophic aortic rupture and lived the next 16 years managing an aortic aneurysm. After this near-death experience, he began painting, taking what he felt he had seen beyond the veil and trying to translate it into art. He later lived in Hawaii for eight years, navigating life on disability with resilience and gratitude, often photographing flowers and saying he was "grateful to be alive, even broken."

Howard was funny and thoughtful, deeply sensitive, and at times lonely. He loved being with his true friends and carried both joy and sadness throughout his life. Those closest to him knew he had immeasurable potential and talent, even when he struggled to fully apply it. He is now finally unburdened from long standing health issues and the traumas of life.

Howard is survived by a wide and loving circle of family by fate and by choice. He was deeply loved by his goddaughter, Rachael Popky, and her children Jordan, Ethan, and Noah and their father Josh. He is remembered by many friends across New Mexico, Arkansas, Hawaii and beyond, his cousin Dave in California and good friend Hugh in Silver City.

Kava Dave, who always had his back, once said, "Perhaps more than anything else, Howard will be remembered for his unique ability to say the most inappropriate things at the absolute worst time, while being completely unaware."

As perfectly accurate as that may be, Howard also left us with these thoughtful and insightful words before he died. I guess that was Howard in a nutshell—totally insightful and completely unaware...

In his words from early 2025:

"I got to grow up in a beautiful way in Albuquerque, New Mexico."

"We really are two different people. There's the facade we walk out the door with, and then there's who we really are. The real conflict comes when we get tired of the facade."

"Nobody is so real that you truly know what you're dealing with. You're dealing with the front people put up, and that leaves us very lonely inside ourselves."

"When we have a crisis, it turns us inward. And when we turn inward, that's when we're closest to who we really are."

"I had an out-of-body experience when my heart blew up. You can explain it away if you want, but the harder question is—what if it really did happen?"

"I was asked what I thought about Earth and what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to see how it turns out."

"I came back grateful. Grateful to be alive, even broken."

"The truth is probably beyond anything we can imagine."

"I give everybody permission to be on their own path."

"When we're happier and closer to who we really are, the people around us are more on our vibration."

"My art isn't about impressing anyone. It's about me being happy as hell, putting colors on a canvas and enjoying it."

"You don't have to justify what makes you happy. Did you have a good time? Yes. That's it."

"We're always working on the basics. We just forget that."

"I've had a lot of tragedy in my life, and that's where a lot of this understanding came from."

"For now, I know I have a finite time here. And I'm pretty damn happy."

- Howard David Reinert III - (2025)