PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Our Heavenly Father welcomed home his good and faithful servant, Howard Russell Keough, of Port St. Lucie, formerly of Hardwick, Vt., on Saturday, September 19, at Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Vt. He was 84.
He was born May 22, 1936, in Landaff, N.H., one of 13 children born to the late Harold Keough Sr, and Myrtle (McGuire) Keough. He graduated from Hardwick Academy in the class of 1955.
He entered the United States Air Force on March 30, 1956, in Manchester, N.H. He served his country at Ethan Allen Air Force Base in Winooski, Vt., where he was Honorably Discharged on March 29, 1960.
On April 12, 1958, he married the love of his life, Barbara Jean Gates at the United Church in Hardwick.
He was employed at the Waterbury State Hospital for more than 31 years. He retired on December 31, 1991. He later operated Fisher’s Folly in Hardwick for five years. In 1997, Howard and Barbara moved to Port Saint Lucie to enjoy their remaining years and traveled to Vermont to spend summers with family.
Howard was a member of Touch of Grace Church Assembly of God Church in East Hardwick and a past member of the United Church of Hardwick choir, Hardwick Rescue Squad, the Air Force choir and the Elf Program at Hardwick Elementary School. He enjoyed crocheting, fishing, word search, feeding the birds, making donuts, gardening and painting. He was a very devoted husband, father and grandfather.
Survivors include his loving wife of 62 years, Barbara, of Port Saint Lucie; four daughters: Tracy Child and her husband, Michael of Port Saint Lucie, Cathy Silk and her husband, Miles of Barre, Vt., Robin Blake and her husband, Wilbur, and Kimberly Keough and her companion Lavar Ferguson, all of Hardwick; his mother-in-law, Mae Jowers of Hardwick; two brothers, Rodney Keough and his wife, Martha of East Hardwick and Gary Keough and his wife, Barbara of Hardwick; three sisters, Phyllis Roy and her husband, Bernard of Hinesburg, Vt., Delores Massey and her husband, Tony of Hardwick and Jessie Fisk and her husband, Philip of Waterbury, Vt.; 15 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was predeceased by two great-grandchildren, Christopher and Jack; seven siblings, Ernest Keough, Harold Keough Jr., Philip Keough, Anna Belle Harrison, Elizabeth Wells, Beatrice Smith and Josephine King.
Visiting hours will be held Wednesday evening 6 to 8 p.m., at Northern Vermont Funeral Home, 60 Elm Street, Hardwick. Due to COVID-19, masks and social distancing will be required.
Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m., on Thursday, September 24, at Touch of Grace Assembly of God Church in East Hardwick. Burial will follow in the family lot in the Fairview Cemetery in Hardwick. Masks and social distancing will also be required in the church and the cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Hardwick Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 837, Hardwick, VT., 05843, or to the Lamoille Area Cancer Network, 198 Farr Avenue, Morrisville, VT. 05661
Arrangements are in the care of Dian R. Holcomb of Northern Vermont Funeral Service, 60 Elm Street, Hardwick.
