In MEMORY

Howard Portnoy



 
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06/24/08 02:10 AM #1    

Bill Edwards

Howie passed away in 1973 from a auto accident in Canada.


07/06/08 05:43 AM #2    

Robert Bob Zeiger

I believe the auto accident was after we graduated high school.

07/20/08 03:54 PM #3    

David Kassander

Around 9-21-73 I believe.

07/21/08 01:16 AM #4    

Robert Shulkin

There isn't a January 31 that goes by that I don't think about Howard....for January 31 was Howard's birthday.

I first met Howard when we were six years-old; Howard and his family had moved to the house across the street from back East and his mother, Rose, was so pleased that he would have a playmate his age in the neighborhood. Howard and I became fast friends, and in many ways, as young boys, we were like brothers: we fought, we bickered, we chased each other, we played pinball in his basement, shot baskets and we just hung around.

I'll never forget the time his dad, Max, brought home a Muskie from a fishing trip in Canada. What a magnificent trophy it was! All the neighbors came to see: I remember his dad proudly taking it out of his ice-cooler and placing it into their kitchen sink; it was a monster of a fish and Howard and I screamed with delight. Howard was so proud of his dad. Howard's dad, a successful businessman, was full of life and always self-confident. I remember him singing in the car, when he would drive us somewhere, and Howard, embarrassed, would beg him to stop singing (only to be rewarded with more singing!).

Howard's dad died of a brain tumor when we were in high school. Understandably so, Howard was never quite the same. He found comfort though in travel to Israel one summer, and I believe he would have given serious thought to moving there someday if he had ever had the chance.

His sudden death in 1973, in a one-car traffic accident in the Northwest Territory in Canada, left me in shock. Howard seemed invincible to me and so full of life that I never thought he would die young.

His spirit is always with me though, and may we all say a prayer for him on January 31.


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