'Red' Howard, Veteran Police Officer, Dies

‘Red’ Howard, Veteran Police Officer, Dies

Long Illness Fatal To Sergeant Who Retired In 1947

By David M. Reed

Sgt. Marland Glen Howard.,70, retired veteran of more than 40 years of service with the Ann Arbor Police Department, died at 3 o'clock this morning at his home, 410 W. Washington St.

"Red" Howard, whose massive, six-foot-two-inch frame and ruddy smiling (but firm-lipped) visage were known to thousands of University students as well as the great majority of Ann Arbor citizens, had been in failing health since his retirement from active police duty in September of 1947.

On his retirement Sgt. Howard laid aside the police harness he had worn for four decades with the words, "It’ll seem funny — being out of uniform."

It's probable that the "funny" feeling stayed with him. Since the death of his wife, in 1943, he had taken much more comfort in his cottage at Crooked Lake than in. the house on W. Washington St. where he and Mrs. Howard had lived together for nearly 40 years. Yet his job remained his anchor.

Honored By Friends

On the occasion of his retirement — a time of special ovation accorded by Red's many friends throughout the city and county—the veteran police officer summed up his own feelings In the simplest of statements.

"Retirement they call it." said Red, “and retirement It's going to be—for three months or so. That's the amount of time I aim to take for a good rest."

Red had his rest, but he never grew accustomed to being back in “civvies" again. Though his voice boomed as cheerfully as ever on sunny days when he strolled the downtown streets to be greeted by his host of friends, there was something touching about seeing the old policeman out of uniform.

As a matter of fact, Red was so closely identified with his past function that actually he may be said to have kept on with his job to the very end of his life. He was a commanding figure, and he never ceased commanding respect for the law—In the best and most practical sense of the phrase.

Marland Glen Howard was born Dec. 8, 1878, in Saline, a son of John Linus Howard, an Irish produce merchant who moved to Ann Arbor when Red was a small child, and settled his family in a house on Hiscock St.

German-Speaking Irishman

The neighborhood was occupied mainly by Bavarian families, and the Irish youngster found his brogue of little use In communicating with the German-speaking children of parents born abroad. He adjusted promptly and soon was spouting Deutsch like a native of Munich rather than a second-generation product of the Emerald Isle.

He retained this facility, and throughout his life periodically gave listeners cause for astonishment at hearing a red-headed Irishman converse fluently in German.

In 1889, Red quit school and took the first of the three jobs he held in more than a half-century of continuous work.

At the age of 11, he started a nine-year term of employment at the old Miller & Smith Grocery at Catherine and Main Sts. His second job, at which he remained for another nine years, was with the C K. Godfrey Moving Co. In the meantime, in 1903, he married Rose Galligan, who died in 1943, shortly before the 40th anniversary of the couple’s wedding.

Two daughters and two sons were horn to Red and Mrs. Howard. They are Rosanna, now Mrs. Thomas Ingram, Mary Ellen, now Mrs. Wayne Dwyer; Edward, and Marland Howard, jr., all of Ann Arbor.

It was In September of 1907 that the then 29-year-old Red Howard accepted an appointment as a special policeman. His impressive figure and even temper were well adapted to his work, and within a short time he was serving full-time In the job he held down for 40 years.

Sergeant in 1937

In July of 1937, Red passed a milestone In his police career that he seldom mentioned, but of which he was rightfully proud. It was at this time that he assumed the rank of sergeant and laid aside the patrolman’s badge that he had worn for upwards of three decades.

His advancement never relegated him entirely to a desk, however. He remained active as a training officer, and in his last days on the job spent most of his time “indoctrinating" newcomers on the Ann Arbor Police Force.

Besides his children, Sgt. Howard is survived by a sister, Mrs. Luella Hardy of Ann Arbor, and a brother, Emerson Howard of Windsor, Ont. Seven grandchildren also survive.

Sgt. Howard was a member of St. Thomas Catholic Church, and was affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Funeral services will be at 9 o'clock Friday morning at St. Thomas Church. Burial will be in Forest Hill cemetery.

Friends may call at the Muehlig Chapel, where the Rosary will he recited at 8 o’clock Thursday evening.

Illness Fatal

Sgt. Marland Glen (Red) Howard, who served as an Ann Arbor policeman for 40 years before retirement in 1947, died early today after a long illness. He was 70 years old.