Obituary of Theron E. Howard
LeRoy ~ Theron “Ted” Howard passed away peacefully at home on June 11th, 2020. He was born in 1944 in Warsaw to Bernice Delia Rease and Edward Merritt Howard.
A 1961 graduate of Letchworth Central School, he attended RIT and the University of Buffalo while working at Pulsafeeder in LeRoy. In 1969, he received his MBA from the University of Buffalo and married Sandra Sue Purcell of LeRoy. He graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1977, and after a brief period of living in Florida returned to Genesee County in 1978. After spending two years as an Assistant District Attorney in Genesee County, he opened his own law practice in 1980, which he ran for the next 40 years. Never one to shy away from public service, Ted also served stints on the Pavilion School Board, the LeRoy Historical Society board, and the GCC Foundation Board. He served the Town of Pavilion for two years as Town Justice, and for six years as Town Supervisor and served as a member of the NY State Surrogate Decision-Making Committee.
Ted was well known in the local community for always having time to share a joke or a selection from his vast repertoire of one-liners and witticisms. His unfailing sense of humor was overshadowed only by his generosity and sense of fairness. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Sandra (Purcell) of LeRoy, son Theron (Tad) & Katherine (Ginther) of Colorado, son Adam & Rose (Miano) of Elba, and four wonderful grandchildren – Benjamin, Hannah, Jackson, and Grayson. He is also survived by his sister Emma Hatfield, and her husband Lewis of South Carolina.
In accordance with his wishes, there will be no public services. In lieu of spending money on flowers, he would rather you remember him by taking a moment to perform a random act of kindness for a stranger in need, or make a donation directly to a good cause that you really care about.
