(The following article by Eric Swedlund was posted on the Arizona Daily Star website on November 16. Randy Howard was a member of BLE Division 28 in Tucson.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — Randy and Joshua Howard were very similar as father and son, men strong in faith and love who unquestionably brought joy into the lives of those they knew, a church elder said in a memorial service Saturday.
About 900 people packed the Ironwood Ridge High School auditorium for a memorial to the two men, who died along with three companions while on a fishing trip in the Gulf of California.
“Take a moment to look around, and you’ll begin to understand the impact that Joshua and Randy Howard had on our lives,” said Walter Pennick, an elder in the Jehovah’s Witness congregation where the Howards worshipped. “They definitely had a positive impact on many, many people, and this room is a testament to that fact.”
The Howards left Rocky Point for a fishing trip with fellow Tucsonans Mark Brinke, 47, Carl Hopper, 42, and Daryl Holland, 42, on Oct. 25. When they failed to return that night, authorities began searching. Their boat was found three days later about 100 miles southwest of Rocky Point, or Puerto Peñasco.
Pennick said the men were fortunate to have such a large family in their Christian congregation, their physical family, and Randy’s railroad co-workers and Joshua’s fellow students at the University of Arizona.
“Something about Randy Howard made all of us stop and say, ‘I want to know that guy,’ ” he said. “People were attracted to him like a magnet. He was quick with a smile and had a laugh I don’t think any of us are going to forget too soon.”
Randy Howard was born in Pasadena, Calif., in 1956 and married Sheryl in 1979. The couple raised two sons, Joshua and Michael, with Bible principles in mind, Pennick said.
Joshua was born in Tucson in 1982 and was studying architecture, helping to draw and design Kingdom Halls in a Jehovah’s Witness group. He was complex, intense and assertive, a young man who worked hard – as did his brother – to apply Bible principles in his life and avoid teen-age pitfalls, Pennick said.
Pennick told the gathering that many of them may have sat down with Randy or Joshua a month ago and never would have thought they’d be at a memorial Saturday.