Howard Elliott Jr., 94, a kind, humble man of great faith and integrity, passed away peacefully on July 21 surrounded by his family. Howard was born in Madison on Sept. 5, 1926, to Howard Sr. and Florence Elliott. He attended Blessed Sacrament School and was a 1944 graduate of Madison West High School, where he ran track and field. In 1944, Howard was enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He trained at Great Lakes Naval Academy in North Chicago and Naval Radar Training School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., before serving at sea on the U.S.S. Zenobia and the U.S.S. Harold J. Ellison. He was a proud World War II veteran and was truly honored to serve his country. Upon discharge in 1946, he attended the University of Wisconsin and later began his 36-year career as a credit manager at Automatic Temperature Supplies, where he met many lifelong friends.
On March 31, 1951, he was united in marriage to Donna Bergmann, the love of his life. Donna and Howard shared a deep love for each other and recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. In retirement, they have spent their winters in Delray Beach, Fla., and summers on Half Moon Lake in Tomahawk. Half Moon Lake became a place of many family gatherings where Howard instilled a love of the lake, boating and waterskiing in his family.
Howard’s Catholic faith was unwavering and provided him a source of great comfort and strength. He was consistently positive, courageous, and never lost his sense of humor. Howard loved his Wisconsin Badgers. Watching them brought him much joy. He was honored for his service on two special occasions—first, in Sept. 2012, he took the Badger Honor Flight to Washington D.C. with his daughter, Sharon, to visit the WWII memorials. Secondly, he was honored as the Hometown Hero at half-time of a Badger football game in Sept. 2016 as he celebrated his 90th birthday. Other organizations he was involved with throughout the course of his life include: the Knights of Columbus #531, the Elks Club, and the National Association of Credit Management.
Family meant everything to Howard. He was survived by his devoted wife, Donna, his four loving children, Richard (Bonnie), Sharon (Vince Sweeney), Jim (Carol Cook,) Howard III (Jill); eight grandchildren, Breah (Dr. Tim Bollom), Brian (Alyson), Kelsey (Blake Breslau), Keara (Dan Fahey), Mikayla (fiancé Jamison Vaughn), Alex, Tyler, and Brian Elliott; six great-grandchildren, Cooper and Kennedy Bollom, Andersen, Ben, Maggie, and Jessa Elliott. He was looking forward to the arrival of his seventh great-grandchild, Baby Breslau, in October. He is also survived by his sister, Helen Culver, and by in-laws Pat Elliott, Richard and Clarice Lehn, and many nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors.
He was preceded in death by his parents Howard and Florence, his sister Elizabeth Parker, brother and best friend Harold “Schim” and brothers-in-law, Dr. James Bergmann, Robert Parker, Dan Culver and Dr. Robert Beckes.
A gathering of friends and family will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 29, at the Ryan Funeral Home, 5701 Odana Rd., Madison. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m., on Friday, July 30, at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 2116 Hollister Ave., Madison, with a visitation held one hour prior to the Mass at church. Blessed Sacrament was a special home to Howard, where he celebrated his baptism, first communion, confirmation, and marriage to Donna. Memorials may be made to Badger Honor Flight, Inc., Knights of Columbus #531, or Blessed Sacrament Parish.
A special thanks to the staffs at UW and Meriter Hospitals for their loving care of Howard during his later years of life.
To view and sign this guestbook please visit www.ryanfuneralservice.com.