Lawrence Howe

Lawrence Howe, lawyer, business executive, civic leader and long-time Winnetka resident, died peacefully Sunday, July 31, at the age of 94. A 1942 Harvard graduate, Navy pilot during World War II, and holder of a law degree from the University of Chicago (1948), Howe was a partner at the firm of Vedder, Price, Kaufman, and Kammholz, and CFO and General Counsel at Bell & Howell (1967-1974) and Vice Chairman, CFO at Jewel Companies (1975-1984) and a member of the board of directors at Motorola (1986 -1992). Mr. Howe's public service includes a term as President of the Village of Winnetka (1964-1967); Board President of the North Shore Country Day School (1961-62); and active participation on the boards of Metropolitan Family Services, Evanston Hospital, Loyola University, United Charities, and the Harvard Alumni Association, among others. In 1984 Mr. Howe was recruited by the Commercial Club of Chicago as the first Executive Director of their Civic Committee and publisher of its quarterly, Chicago Enterprise. In addition to advising and supporting public officials, the Committee pushed reform on key issues, including employment, taxation, school reorganization, and equity for minorities. Eloquent and frank, enormously hardworking, and always ready to exert leadership, Howe was also warmly collegial with co-workers, subordinates, and others. After ten years at the Civic Committee, Mr. Howe stepped down at age 72, only to find that leisure did not suit him. "I flunked retirement." For another ten years he continued as a senior advisor to the Chicago Community Trust, where he reviewed grant proposals and lent his expertise on a number of projects. He kept up a demanding work schedule, and at his third retirement in 2006, the Trust thanked him for more than 20,000 hours of expert service. In every phase of his work, Lawrence Howe showed a deep and unselfish loyalty to Chicago, to the economic health of the city, to its social and educational institutions, and to the welfare of all of its citizens. Married for almost seventy years to Ellen "Tina" Vaughan Howe until her death in 2012, he later joined in a devoted life partnership with Frances Fisher. He is survived by four children, James Howe of New Hampshire; Ellen Howe of Manhattan and Connecticut; Eliza Earle of Winnetka; and Samuel Howe of Atlanta; as well as by six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. A service will be held at 11 o'clock on August 22 at Christ Church, 784 Sheridan Road in Winnetka. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Metropolitan Family Services (https://www.metrofamily.org/donate/)