George William "Jody" Howland Jr.

George William Howland Junior, born 2/4/48 in Natick, Massachusetts passed peacefully at UMass Medical Center Worcester on Thursday, October 2, 2025. The family wishes to acknowledge the 7 ICU medical team including "Dr. John", nurses Sam, Jess and his nurse the night he passed, and the many others we did not get to meet, who cared for him in his last days. Your care in taking care of us as a family, as we made some of the most difficult decisions of our lives, will not ever be forgotten!

He is preceded in death by his wife Sharon Howland (Kelley) and survived by his children Sherry Currier (Howland) and George Howland III, Grandchildren Megan Currier, Brandon Howland, Samantha Currier, Toni Howland, and Jared Howland. "Grampy/Eapa" loved you all and was so proud of each of you!

He is preceded in death by his parents George Howland Sr. and Mildred Howland (Calvin). He is survived by his younger siblings Brenda Marchetti, Sharon Thibault her husband Ronnie, Donna Gardner her husband Paul, and Douglas Howland and his wife Beth.

He is also survived by a loving circle of family and friends beyond his immediate family whom he would always love to reminisce about. We affectionately called this "story time" with Dad!

George gained the nickname name Jody growing up. He grew up in Cotichuate, MA.

He did all the big brother things like taking his sister Brenda to see her first horror movie when they were younger, (Frankenstein 3D). She still loves horror movies to this day. They played baseball, ice skating, and sledding down Lightning Hill. "He was a great brother."

In high school he worked at Carpenters Dairy Farm in Cochituate. Doug remembers each of the siblings, getting to pick out a cow and take care of it. "lol..that was cool."

He enjoyed stock car racing and demolition derbies which he participated in when younger. As a family later on, a favorite night out was a trip to Westborough Speedway.

When he later joined the Army he would continue this love of working on cars as a mechanic.

He received several medals during his time in the Army including National Defense Service Medal, Sharpshooter M-14, and a Good Conduct Medal. We would often hear army base stories from Dad through the years. The last one he told me was about how those Marines thought they had it so bad with the food they had to eat until they had to eat Army food for a bit. He always chuckled about that one.

Life with Dad was simple but fun - he loved taking the family camping, my brother and I spent many Saturday mornings, after coffee of course, with him at the slot car track, traipsing through the woods at the crack of dawn to hunt pheasant, going to a fishing derby or listening to him sing songs around a campfire. "Kaw-liga" that poor old wooden head!"

He worked at Cott soda for a stint which worked out well for us cuz he would bring home the syrups for the soda which went really well on our snow cones from our Snoopy Snow Cone machine! He then transitioned to the Medfield Ma School department where he was a night custodian. The rest of his career would be there where he worked up to head custodian. The youngsters dubbed him the Sheriff as he never left the house without his cowboy hat. He would later add a star sheriff badge to it engraved with his name cuz he got such a kick out if the kids calling him that. It was also here that he gained all those keys on his keychain - which we would soon come to know, was a great indicator of when he was close by. "Oh shit here comes the jingle." Thanks Dad we appreciate the warning - it probably helped us avoid getting in trouble - at least a few times!

Dad worked hard and loved his family a lot. He loved to have fun but also was very clear when he'd had enough! Life will not be the same without him but he will always remain in our hearts and in all the memories he has made with all who knew him through the years.

A memorial service will be held Sunday October 12th at 2pm at Consigli and Ruggerio Funeral Home, 46 Water Street Milford, MA 01757.

Anyone wishing to make a donation in his name please refer to https://Trivalleyinc.org

From the 3 bar menu scroll to "Nutrtion Services" under that "Meals on Wheels" and then "Click Here to Donate to Meals on Wheels!"