Obituary of Tommy Howe

Tommy Howe, 24, of Peabody and formerly of Colchester, VT., died Saturday in Scottsdale, Arizona after a three year courageous battle with cancer. Born in West Islip, New York, he was the loving son of Donald and Ann (Seria) Howe of Peabody. He was raised and educated in Colchester, Vermont and was a graduate of Colchester High School, class of 2004. While at Colchester High School, Tommy set an all time scoring record in basketball that still remains today. In his junior year, he led his team to the state championship. After high school, Tommy attended UMass/Boston and played basketball in his freshman and sophomore years and won a division III title. During his junior year, Tommy was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer. After receiving numerous treatments and sacrificing his leg, he felt inspired to change his career path and become a registered nurse. He enrolled at Lawrence Memorial School of Nursing in Medford and worked as a nursing assistant at both Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Beverly Hospital. Tommy was a role model for many students in both high school and college. He had a way of maintaining a positive outlook with humor through the most difficult times. He affected so many people with his compassion and love for life. He loved working with special needs children and was a perfect role model for his younger cousins. Family was all that mattered to Tommy, as long as his family was together, he was the happiest. It is that loving and supportive family that he is survived by his parents, Donald and Ann (Seria) Howe, he is survived by his three sisters, Christy and Katie Howe, both of Peabody, Kelly Rydstrom of Oakdale, N.Y. and brother Donald Howe of West Sayville, N.Y. He is also survived by his fiancé, Kaitlyn Steller of Peabody, whom he proposed to last year on the Regis and Kelly show, and is also survived by his grandparents, numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. His funeral will be held on Saturday at 10:30 AM from the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody, followed by his Funeral Mass at 11:30 AM at St. Adelaide’s Church, Peabody to which relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held on Friday from 3:00 until 8:00 PM. Burial in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Salem. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.