Howard (Homard) James Letts passed peacefully surrounded by his family on October 9, 2021, at the house he built in Rockport, Texas. Despite battling several medical issues, he was determined to reach his 92nd birthday on August 26, and did. Born in 1929 in North East, Maryland, he was the tenth child and youngest son of William Newbold and Helen deMond Letts.
Howard joined the Army in 1946. A private, he spent 18 months in South Korea installing telephone lines in a hospital. He also was part of the crew that fabricated the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel in Port Deposit. In 1961, he left his job at Harbison-Walker in Cecil County, packed up his wife and three children, and moved to Anchorage, Alaska. He became a journeyman sheet metal worker and member of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association. Howard was also famous for the Alaskan pipelines he help built in 1975, and still functional today. In 1972, he founded Sheet Metal Inc.; the business maintained a solid reputation for providing quality work. His son, Jim, is the current president of the company. Howard retired in the 1990s and eventually landed in Texas.
An avid fisherman, Howard spent his childhood along the North East river. The rivers and lakes of Alaska fueled his passion for fishing, as did those in Texas. He was born near water and, as he desired, died near water.
Howard's identical twin, Harry, died in 1938. His wife, Evelyn Titter, mother of his children, died November 7, 1975. His son, Homard Jr., died in 2006. He also was preceded in death by his brothers and sisters: Emmett Ulysses, Harold Elias, David Eugene, Ralph Thomas, and Albert B. Letts, and Roberta Grafton, Beatrice Simpson, and Colleen Gray.
Howard is survived by his daughter, Helen R. Letts, of Tacoma, Washington, and sons, Richard Donald and Jim Letts of Anchorage, Alaska. A memorial service for Howard will be held in North East, Maryland, in spring 2022.
The family would like to say a special thanks to nurses on wheels hospice and Crystal for taking such good care of Howard.