Browse the obituary of residing in the province of Colombie britanique for funeral details
HILE, Howard Brand
January 5, 1943 — July 16, 2024
Howard Brand Hile was born on January 5, 1943 in Great Neck, NY. He was the first child of Norman E. Hile and Mary Brand Hile. Howard was named after his father’s uncle, Howard Hooper.
When Howard was 6 years old, he and his family moved to a new home in Merrick, Long Island. There, Howard began 1st grade. At the local Methodist Church, Howard sang in the children’s choir, beginning a lifelong enjoyment of choral singing.
In 1953, Howard’s father accepted a job with the Orinoco Mining Company, a new subsidiary U.S. Steel created to mine iron ore from a mountain in the wilderness of central Venezuela. In January 1954, Howard and his family moved to Puerto Ordaz, a newly built town on the Orinoco River. Puerto Ordaz was the port where crushed iron ore could be loaded onto ore boats to travel north to steel plants in the U.S. The port and the town were under construction when Howard and his family arrived.
In Puerto Ordaz, Howard attended a company-run American grade school where the largest class size was ten students, and some classes had more than one grade. There, Howard learned Spanish, which he used throughout his lifetime for business and leisure travel. Howard’s home’s backyard bordered on jungle. Howard enjoyed many adventures cutting paths through the underbrush and bringing home trophies such as lizards, snakes, and other wild creatures.
In the summer of 1954, Howard, his father, and brother took a trip up the Orinoco River to the last navigable port, a town called Puerto Ayacucho. There they saw indigenous peoples in loincloths and visited a sugar cane plant. Along the way, he fished for caribes, a native fish much like a piranha.
In Venezuela, Howard developed a love of boats. As a Christmas present, his parents gave him a boat “kit.” Howard built a 14-foot outboard motorboat, largely without help, in the family’s carport. The boat was dubbed the “Jungle Queen,” and was powered by a 15 horsepower outboard motor. Once the Jungle Queen was launched, Howard and his family enjoyed water-skiing and exploring the two rivers that came together at Puerto Ordaz.
In 1955, when Howard completed the 8th grade, because there was no English-speaking high school in Puerto Ordaz, Howard enrolled at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. At Andover, Howard played soccer and baseball, and sang in the chorus. He enjoyed parts in school musicals.
At Christmastime in 1956, Howard was spending the holiday in Puerto Ordaz when Venezuela’s then dictator, Marco Perez Jimenez, was overthrown in an armed revolution. With all flights in and out of Venezuela cancelled, Howard was smuggled out of Venezuela on an ore boat, sailing up the Orinoco River to the Atlantic Ocean and then to Philadelphia.
In 1960, Howard graduated from Andover and started college at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. At Brown, Howard joined the Navy ROTC program and was a proud member of the drill team. He graduated from Brown with a bachelor’s degree in June 1964. Upon graduation, Howard was sworn into the U.S. Navy as an Ensign. He served two years of active duty as an officer on a destroyer while stationed in Charleston, S.C. While in the Navy, Howard bought his first sports car, an Austin Healey Sprite.
Upon completion of his active duty, Howard had attained the rank of Lieutenant. He joined an active Navy reserve unit in Brooklyn, NY and remained in the active reserves for over 25 years, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain. In one memorable assignment, he guided his Navy destroyer around the island of Manhattan as part of a “dependents’ cruise” for his shipmates’ wives and children. Many years later, Commander Hile spent his ACDUTRA one year participating in Operation Desert Shield, working on logistics.
Upon leaving active duty, Howard began his business career working for Union Carbide in their offices on Park Avenue in New York City.
Howard’s love of automobiles, and particularly sports cars, manifested itself in a cherished collection of sports car magazines that he trucked from apartment to apartment and a string of sporty cars he owned and loved. Besides the Sprite, he suffered with an unreliable Alfa Romeo and ultimately acquired the car of his dreams: a 1972 BMW 2002 tii.
Howard enrolled in the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, PA; graduated with an MBA in 1970, and began working for National Bulk Carriers shortly thereafter.
Howard met Stephani Dunaway in 1974. They married in 1979. Howard was a doting stepdad (the Dude) to Stephani’s daughter Deborah for all the years thereafter.
Howard moved the family to Philadelphia in late 1976 and continued his career in marine transport with IOT, Sonat Marine, and Maritrans. His focus was marketing for many years, then operations and logistics. When the Oil Pollution Act was instituted in 1990, Howard specialized in oil spill response, and helped lead the Marispond offshoot of Maritrans. Howard was later a consultant with Gallagher Marine Systems. He became a Qualified Individual for emergency spill response, and coordinated spill responses, liaising among Federal, State, and local agencies, scientists, and cleanup specialists from the Delaware river to St Petersburg, FL, to the Gulf of Mexico, to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and Coos Bay, Oregon and many points in between. He also worked with shipping companies all over the world in their preparation of US waters oil spill response plans and training.
Howard and Stephani bought a home in Sun Peaks, B.C., Canada in the early 2000s. There they enjoyed skiing, bird watching, and mountain life.
On June 25, 2024 Stephani Hile passed away suddenly. Howard had been in ill health for several years, and passed away in Kelowna on July 16, 2024. He will be remembered for his gentlemanliness; universal kindness; good nature; love of cats, dogs, and good puns; and an uncommon ability and patience in teaching.
Howard is survived by daughter, Deborah Dunaway (Scott Smigiel); brother Norman (Belinda) Hile; cousin Jane Ross; and many extended family members and friends who will miss him dearly.
Donations in Howard’s memory may be made to the American Red Cross.
If you wish to send a condolence, post photos, or share a memory, please scroll down the page to the area call “Condolences”.
January 5 1943 — July 16 2024
Death notice for the town of: Kelowna, Province: Colombie britanique
death notice HILE Howard Brand January 5 1943 — July 16 2024
obituaries notice HILE Howard Brand January 5 1943 — July 16 2024
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of HILE Howard Brand January 5 1943 — July 16 2024 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
