Alice Patricia "Pat" Howard

1937 - 2021

Alice Patricia "Pat" (Heaphy) Howard

June 22, 1937 - September 30, 2021

Alice Patricia "Pat" Heaphy Howard passed away on September 30, 2021. She was 84 years old. Most of her story is here in these words from her artist resume.

"I was born (to Helen and James Heaphy) in Pontiac, Michigan and lived in the Detroit suburbs until I was 13 years old. My father died suddenly that year at age 49. Shortly after that momentous event we moved to my mother's hometown, Lima, Ohio.

In 1955 I graduated from Lima St. Gerard High School. I was awarded a full academic scholarship to Mary Manse College in Toledo. At Mary Manse, I was secretary of my freshman class, active in the art club, the drama club, and on the yearbook staff.

I put my education on hold in order to accept an offer to be the display artist for LaSalle's (Macy's) Department Store in Toledo. During this time I was dating a wonderful young man from Toledo who was studying architecture (Richard Patrick "Dick" Howard). We married in 1957, about six months before he graduated. I very soon became a stay-at-home mom with a serious art hobby.

I went back to school when the youngest of our children was in kindergarten. In 1990 I graduated magna cum laude with a double major in Fine Art and Religious Studies from Lourdes College in Sylvania, Ohio.

As an empty nester I had more time to devote to painting and participated in regional and national art competitions and won many awards including an Ohio Arts Council Artist Fellowship. I have exhibited in galleries, museums and colleges around the country, from New York to Florida, to California and in between. In 1996 we decided to take the plunge and move to New York City. We sold our home in Sylvania, Ohio, bought an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, and leased studio space in Brooklyn.

After moving to Brooklyn, I exhibited my paintings at several prominent NYC galleries, in addition to a 15 year ongoing gallery representation at ArtSpace2 in Birmingham, Michigan. In 2003, I fulfilled a long held desire to live in Manhattan."

Pat's move to NYC was driven by her lifelong dream to have an exhibit at the OK Harris Art Gallery, owned by the gallerist who discovered Andy Warhol, a dream realized in 1999 with a month-long solo exhibition.

Causes Pat supported over the years include Smile Train, Amnesty International, The Innocence Project, and Lourdes University. She was a teaching volunteer for adult literacy in Lucas County. She modeled for charity fashion shows in Toledo from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Pat and Dick not only raised a family, they held each other up in pursuit of their individual dreams. After Dick graduated in architecture in 1958 and started Howard Associates, she helped him complete many client projects. He assisted her with her art projects and supported their relocation to NYC from 1997 to 2019.

She loved her children and cherished her time with her grandchildren. She took every opportunity she could to work on projects with her grandchildren: drawing, painting, building doll houses, or sewing costumes for playing dress up. She did everything she could to support the creative and educational endeavors of all her family, freely giving both her time and money.

She is preceded in death by her daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret; and survived by Dick, her husband of 64 years; daughter, Angela (Jake Reason); sons, Joseph, Edward (Lenore), and John (Kimberly); ten grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A celebration of her life will be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio.