Dennis W. Howard
Obituary
GRANTHAM — Dennis W. Howard, 83, died July 6, 2009, at home following a long decline in health.
He was born in Grantham, Jan. 19, 1926, to Henry and Olive (Smith) Howard. He attended Grantham Elementary School and Towle High School. He served in the U.S. Army Corps from August 1944 to July 1946, trained as a gunner and was a clerk typist.
Upon discharge and returning home to Bouldervale Farm in Grantham, the farm couldn’t provide enough income for the family so he went to work as an artificial inseminator of dairy cattle for NH-VT Breeders Association. He bred cows for nearly 35 years for Eastern AI Co-op, until retiring in 1981 to return to Bouldervale Farm.
He married Constance Brown Oct. 3, 1953. They raised two daughters at their home in Springfield, Vt. Upon returning to Grantham, his main interest was in maintaining and preserving Bouldervale Farm.
IN HIS LIFE: He is was active in the Grantham Methodist Church and attended many church suppers in the area. As cemetery trustee he embarked on mapping and recording the information of the cemeteries, and fixing them up. He was a founding member of the Grantham Historical Society and enjoyed sharing local history. The 2008 annual town report was dedicated to Dennis and Connie Howard.
A few years ago he became best friends with Rob Blais of Croydon. The tin can on the table next to the garden, selling excess garden vegetables, was replaced when Dennis and Rob fixed up the “Shingle Mill” and turned it into a farm stand. Dennis loved to tell customers about the latest variety of scalopini squash or purple bean they grew.
The Howard family came to Grantham in 1792. Dennis was proud to take care of the farm, its many historical buildings, antique farm equipment and the “Howard Forest” in Grantham and Croydon. The Certified Tree Farm and Society for the Protection of NH Forests signs along the property boundaries are a perpetual reminder of the importance of the conservation easements protecting nearly 250 acres that allow all who travel Rte. 10 in Grantham to savor the natural beauty of undeveloped land.
He was the brother of Ivis (Sanborn) and Amah Howard.
He is survived by his wife Connie Howard of Grantham; daughter Andrea Bonnar and husband, Peter, of Ayer Mass., daughter Brenda Buck and husband, Chet, of Bow, grandson Alex Bonnar and wife, Roz, of Burlington, Mass., granddaughter Carrie Fiske and husband, Craig, of New Britain, Conn., grandson Stan Buck of Bow, step-grandaughter Jenn Hyde and husband, Matt, of Durham, N.C., special friends Rob and Dan Blais-Carter of Croydon, brother-in-law Howard (Tom) Sanborn of Tucson, Ariz., nephew Randy Sanborn and wife, Peggy (Wilson), of Tucson, Ariz., niece Suellen (Sanborn) Calcutt and husband, Elbert (Red), of Ocala, Fla., and many grandnieces, nephew and cousins.
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