Since he had the same first name as his father, John Howard was more commonly referred to as Howard.  The picture at the right shows Howard with his brother, Donald.  This picture was probably  taken in late 1913.  Howard would have just turned 4 and Donald was just short of 2.

Howard lived in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York his entire life. He graduated from the Watertown High School in 1928, where he was active in music.  In fact, he was extremely talented musically.  During the 30's and 40's, he worked as a professional musician with various orchestras and dance bands including the Ray LaBounty Orchestra in Watertown.  He played the violin, saxophone and clarinet in this capacity.  He attended the GE Engineering School in Schenectady.  He was employed at Watertown radio stations WATN and WOTT and, along with his brother, Donald, did service work in radio and television and for many years, maintained the communications equipment for several municipal and emergency services.

Howard was always cracking jokes and expounding on his philosophies.  As this photograph taken in 1930 shows, Howard was one of the original "bikers".  He was 21 at the time.

He died just short of his 77th birthday on Monday, October 15, 1986 at his home at 729 Morrison Street.  His obituary appeared in the Watertown Daily Times in the Wednesday, October 17 edition.  A memorial service was conducted at 4 PM on Sunday, October 21 and he is buried in the North Watertown Cemetery.

David came into possession of Howard's death certificate, posted at the right,  because of an incident that occurred about 22 years after Howard's death.  Because he died intestate, the state divided his property between his brother, Donald and his sister, Mary.  Donald signed the house over to Mary and we all assumed she filed the necessary paperwork.  Mary later sold the house.  The new owner again sold it and after 2000 a family who owned the house that bordered the back of the lot bought the back half and combined it with their property.  In 2008, David was contacted by this family.  They were now selling their home and the day before the closing found that they didn't have a clear title to the land.  Real Property records showed that it was owned by Emily Schryver, Donald's widow and David's late mother.  Despite much explanation on David's part that his mother had died eight years prior and never owned the home, it turns out that the title abstract was not updated after Donald signed it over to Mary.  In fact, it was not updated either of the times it was subsequently sold.  Legally, Donald's share went to Emily and upon her death, to her sons David and Richard.  David and his half-brother were asked to sign a document attesting to the fact that they had no interest in the property so that this family could sell their home!  Since this is America, lawyers were involved to make sure that everything was on the up-and-up!

During this incident the couple told David that the records showed the property as having been owned by Howard J. Schryver.  David was given a copy of the death certificate by the funeral director who had it.  It not only lists him as Howard rather than John Howard, it lists his mother as Elizabeth J. Knutty when in fact her middle name was Mary.  In other official county documents he found, his father, Donald Everett was named as Donald J.  It's no wonder that people trying to research their family genealogy from back when records were poor run into so many problems.  These are modern day records!

"Howard" married Florence Fonda Ritton.  Florence was born in Schenectady, New York on June 17, 1917.  She was the daughter of Earl and Alexandra Stremel Fonda.  Florence was a widower with five children.  She was married to Harry J. Ritton of Duanesburg, New York in 1936.  He died in August of 1955.

Florence was a graduate of the Watertown School of Practical Nursing and was a Licensed Practical Nurse.  She had been employed at both the Mercy and House of the Good Samaritan Hospitals in Watertown.

Florence died at the family home on Saturday night, March 4, 1972.  Her obituary appeared in the Watertown Daily Times edition of Monday, March 6.  Her funeral was held at the Reed & Benoit Funeral Home in Watertown at 1:30 PM on Tuesday, March 7.  She is buried in the Dexter Cemetery.

A small stone marks Howard and his sister Mary's graves

Many people who knew him did not realize that Howard's name was John Howard.  His death certificate, now in the possession of his nephew David, lists him simply as Howard Schryver.  Many years after his death, David was talking with a cousin.  Although this cousin knew Howard quite well, being much younger than him, even she didn't realize that his first name was John.  In fact, various documents found after his death list him as Howard, John Howard, J. Howard and Howard J.  David still suspects it was his way of messing with the government!  Even his obituary in the Watertown Daily Times refers to him as Howard J. Schryver.