A Celebration of Life and Fond Farewell

COOPERSTOWN—Hundreds of people gathered in the Cooperstown Central School auditorium on Saturday, September 7 to pay their respects, share remembrances, have a laugh, and perhaps even shed a tear or two as longtime influential community figure and CCS educator, coach, and athletics Hall of Fame member Don Howard was celebrated posthumously. Howard passed away in early June at the age of 82. In a career at CCS that spanned more than three decades, Howard taught history and psychology and was a longtime coach of both boys JV basketball and boys varsity track and field. After 49 years living in Cooperstown, he and his wife of 44 years, Doris, shown above, split time between the Adirondacks and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina later in Howard’s life. The memorial service featured four speakers, each invited by Howard’s family as a representative of a group (or groups) of people who were integral in his life. The quartet featured Howard’s daughter, Kelly Howard Kerner, on behalf of the family; Frank Miosek, as a teaching and coaching colleague, fellow golfer, and neighbor; CCS alum Wayne Miller, as a student and athlete; and CCS alum Joe Kennedy, as an athlete and track and field coach. “I look around today, and I see in the audience the people he loved, and cared about,” said Kerner, who spoke first. “From family, to friends, to childhood friends, his golfing buddies, coworkers, and so many former students and athletes. I know he’s looking down today, and he is grinning from ear to ear. He is loving this.”