Alan Howard

Alan Howard-fondly known as Big Al to many who knew him-died at his home in Williamsburg, Virginia on January 11, 2025. At his side were his beloved wife Noreen and oldest daughter Martha. He came into the world nearly 93 years earlier on April 18, 1932, born to Rose (née Glanzberg) and Moses Howard of Brooklyn. Alan was a handsome, gentle giant, unflappably kind and polite to everyone he ever met. He had a tremendous intellect and passion for life. He had an abiding curiosity and desire to connect. He excelled at learning languages, which he was willing to speak with adventurous imperfection, thus charming even the most persnickety native speakers. He was first an actor, then a mathematician with a special interest in differential geometry and complex manifolds (Brown, PhD, 1965; Stanford postdoc 1967-68; Notre Dame professor, 1968-04), and later a writer of funny mystery novels. Come Back, Alice Smithereene! (1985) and An Assassin Prepares (1988) by N.J. McIver (a tribute to one Noreen FitzGerald) are worth hunting down. Calculus: Ideas & Applications (with N.D. colleague Alex Himonas; 2003) may be less obviously inviting, but Alan and Alex crafted it to open the wonders of calc to even the most underconfident and resistant student. And you can also read its Mandarin or Portuguese translations. He played the violin and most things with strings. In retirement, he picked up the mandolin and gigged with Bossa Velha, a Brazilian choro band that he formed with son- in-law Arthur Knight and compatriots Brad Weiss and Charlie Morse. He loved books, puzzles, movies, baseball, opera and jazz. He loved food, especially Chinese. He equally loved company and solitude. He had no real use for being in nature and famously said "nothing ever good came from being outdoors"-yet he took his children Michael, Martha, and Emily camping because they loved it. Testifying to his teaching skills and care for the young, after professing math, he became a sought after Hebrew teacher and bar and bat mitzvah coach at Temple Beth El, Williamsburg. He cared deeply about social justice and was an active member of the Civil Rights movement from early days. He was pro-gay rights when few were. He got to meet James Baldwin in passing during his Air Force days in Paris in the mid-50s, while hanging out at L'Abbaye-the folk club of his friends Gordon Heath and Lee Payant where he learned how to play guitar. He viewed and treated everyone with respect and despised any unequal or unfair treatment of people. He ardently loved Noreen, his partner in life for over 65 years. He married her at a time when a Jewish man marrying a non-Jewish woman was cause for a major crisis in his family and social world. He ignored his mother's fainting spells, and Big Al and Nonie never looked back. Alan was a true Romantic and slyly non-conformist at his core. He followed his heart, but he never aimed to antagonize or provoke unless the stakes were truly high. He was always interested in others and could almost always find a common interest. Above all, he loved being a father and a grandfather. He was the best father anyone could hope for, always supportive yet willing to challenge sloppy thought or unkind behavior when it was called for. But supportive always and always with a ready supply of jokes, good and bad. In their most troubled moments, he unfailingly offered a bit of wisdom that stuck for his children and grandkids. He was often truly, humorously sarcastic against any Powers That Be, in exactly the right way and at the right time. Alan was big, in the sense of being tall-but also in the sense conveyed so well by the words of fellow Brooklyn boy, Walt Whitman: He was large. He contained multitudes. Whitman would surely agree: He was a true Mensch in every sense of the word. All who knew him will miss him terribly but can rest knowing he had a long and good life. He is survived by beloved wife, Noreen; daughters Martha (Arthur Knight) and Emily (Mark Cobley); grandkids Nora and Djuna Knight (Emma Antenen); sister, Ann Howard Golden; and a constellation of extended and chosen family. He was predeceased by his son, Michael Howard.
The Williamsburg Regional Library was an important to Alan and donations in his honor would be welcome: https://www.wrl.org/give/support-the-friends/ To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Alan, please visit our floral store.