David Michael Howton

David Michael Howton of Canton, Georgia, withdrew from a brutal competition with cancer on August 7, 2022.

David was a native of north Georgia, having grown up in the Kennesaw and Acworth areas where he attended Baker and Big Shanty Elementaries, Palmer Middle School, and Kell High School before transferring to Keystone National High School. During his childhood and early adult years, he was active in the local community as a swimmer with several local recreation and USA swimming teams, a martial artist, a bassist playing with the Atlanta Youth Jazz Orchestra, and as a lifeguard and water safety instructor. Eventually, he found himself drawn to the health and physical education field, an area he spent more than a decade of his life studying.

After graduating from high school in 2009, David went on to study Exercise and Health Science at Kennesaw State University where he concentrated on strength and conditioning. He completed hundreds of internship hours under the supervision of the KSU Athletic Department's strength and conditioning coach, as well as an internship as the Assistant to the Strength Coach at High Intensity Training (HIT) in Cumming, GA. During his time at Kennesaw State, David worked for the Student Recreation Center as a building manager where he made many of his deepest and longest-lasting friendships.

He graduated from Kennesaw State University with Honors in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Health Science and immediately started working for the Metro Atlanta YMCA doing one of the things he did best: working with young people. Though setting out to work with children was never an ambition of David's, he was an excellent teacher and mentor for those placed in his care. This was most notable in his love and devotion to his nieces and nephew, who adored him for his candid and fun-loving approach to life.

Though David did not remain with the YMCA long, he did maintain his love for strength and conditioning. Over the years, as he pursued further higher education, he trained others locally as a personal trainer and eventually became operations manager of a local chain of Anytime Fitness centers. He very much enjoyed helping others achieve their wellness goals, but after his initial cancer diagnosis, turned his attention away from the Physical Therapy degree he had been pursuing and toward a career where he felt he could help people most: as a nurse.

His determination saw him striving to achieve his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree right up until the final week of his life.

And though David was academically gifted, his greatest talents may have come when he took the time to work with his hands. He found particular joy in working on cars with his friends and carpentry both independently and with his father. He built beautiful furniture, most of which was showcased in his own home, and had plans for even more.

David often knew what he wanted and wasted little time in setting out to achieve it. Whether jumping out of perfectly good airplanes or learning how to ride a motorcycle, David didn t often let fear get in his way. The moment he knew he wanted something, he began laying the groundwork to achieve it, and if he'd been given more time, he would have undoubtedly achieved everything he set out to do.

But of all the things David accomplished, his greatest achievement was his kindness towards others. He was steadfastly devoted to both animals and people in a quiet, unassuming way. He took great joy in his dogs, both those who remained by his side as he took his last breaths, and those who waited for him on the rainbow bridge. And should those he loved ask for the moon, he'd pull out the wood and the power tools to quietly start working on a ladder.

He is survived by his wife, Katie; parents Amy and Roy; sister Kyra (Steven) Whitton; nieces Endelyn, Ferelith, Tegwen, Allison, and Charlotte; nephews Alistair and Jake; aunts Carolann Jacobs and Jane (Peter) Martin; uncles Richard Howton and Samuel (Kelley) Jacobs; grandmother Donna (Richard) Jones; mother-in-law Donna (David) Pruitt; and brothers-in-law Joshua (Nicole) Barnes and Justin (Whitney) Barnes. He was preceded in death by his grandparents Barbara Joyce Carter, James Jacobs, Roy Howton Sr., Elizabeth Howton, and his father-in-law Charles Barnes.

A memorial service will be held on September 3, 2022, at 5:00 at In Their Honor in Jasper, GA. In lieu of flowers, his loved ones believe he would feel most honored to have donations made to K9s For Warriors.