Obituary of Gene A Howland

Gene A Howland of Wenham, MA passed away December 20 of complications from rheumatoid arthritis. He was 74. Born Sept 17, 1942 in Malden, MA, he was the youngest of nine children, and the 7th boy born to Lillian and Charles Howland. He spent his childhood in Hampton Beach, NH, raised by his beloved Laura Lake. He attended Fryeburg Academy and the University of New Hampshire. Gene married Joanne Kolhonen in 1964. Gene always said he loved Joanne from the start because she went out with him even though he had recently been in a car accident and was “a bit banged up” when they first met. He spent most of his professional career in advertising, starting multiple successful companies and pioneering several areas of movie theater advertising. Gene was an exceptionally talented athlete who never lost his love of play or his passionate competitive spirit. He particularly loved and excelled at tennis, golf, water skiing and snow skiing. He and Joanne skied with a group at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine called the Cardiac Club for many years and skied all over the world, from Chile to Switzerland to Austria to Colorado and Utah. They shared a love of all sorts of travel and enjoyed finding new adventurous places to visit, including an epic 2013 trip to Australia and New Zealand which included seeing the Australian Open. His quick wit and dry sense of humor was ever present, always able to lighten the mood and induce a smile with an off-the-cuff remark. Despite his health problems, he remained optimistic, engaged, and lived his life on his own terms with a tenacity that was an inspiration to everyone who knew him. He always looked for the way forward and the way up, even in the face of an illness that brought him great pain. Strongly devoted to his family and extended family, nothing made him happier than spending time with them, especially his children, granddaughters, and brothers. He was beloved and celebrated by his myriad nieces and nephews. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Joanne Kolhonen Howland, his two children, Jonathan Howland of Boulder, Colorado, and Amanda Howland of Portland Maine, three granddaughters, Alexandra, Lauren and Annabel Huber of Portland Maine, four surviving brothers, Frederick, Charles, David and Michael, two sisters, Shirley and Beverly, his brother-in-law, Ross "Skip" Kolhonen and sister-in-law, Faye Kolhonen, and over 50 nieces, nephews and grandnieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brothers William and Richard. Services will be December 29 at Conway Cahill Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn Street in Peabody. Visiting time will begin at 2:00 with service starting at 3:00. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Arthritis Foundation, 1355 Peachtree St NE, Suite 600, Atlanta,GA 30309 - 404.872.7100 - http://www.arthritis.org/donate.php