Dr. Roy Howarth

“Doc” Howarth passed away at Cambridge Memorial Hospital, having fought leukemia and more recently pneumonia. He will be dearly missed by his wife, Verna; his children, Janice (John) Ghent of Oakville, and Dr. John (Judy) Howarth of Mount Albert; his 4 grandchildren, Melanie Ghent, Bruce (Julie) Howarth, Marlys (Jose) Rodriguez, and Karolyn (Eric) Withers; 3 great-granddaughters, Bronwyn, Holly and Josselyn; his brother, Gordon (Marion) of White Rock, B.C. and many nephews and nieces. Predeceased by his younger daughter, Jennifer and brother, Alan.

Born in Toronto, he graduated from the Medical School of the University of Toronto in 1947. He trained at Toronto General Hospital, The Hospital For Sick Children and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in paediatrics.

In 1946, Roy married the “love of his life”, Verna Forster, of Toronto. They moved to Galt in 1951, where Roy had chosen to begin his medical practice. Sometimes over his 38 years of practice, he treated the children from 3 generations of a family.

The other “love of his life” has been the Lord Jesus Christ who Roy faithfully served for over 65 years, both in Forward Baptist Church and in the community of Cambridge-Galt. Over the years Roy served at Forward as a Deacon, Captain of the Christian Service Brigade Battalion, teacher of the Young Men’s Bible Class and sponsor of the Young People’s Group. He volunteered as President of the Christian Business Men’s Committee and helped found their Cambridge Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. He was a sponsor of the Inter-School Christian Fellowship in Galt’s three high schools, on the board of the YMCA and the Sunbeam Home.

Roy and Verna loved to travel, visiting over 70 countries. Dad was an avid collector – rocks, Canadian stamps, Canadian coins, Canadian paintings, antique glass tumblers and books on many topics, especially Winston Churchill.

The family wishes to thank our many friends from Forward, Roy’s neighbours on Corwin Blvd, the staff at the Fairview Mennonite Home and his physicians and nurses at Cambridge Memorial for their support and care for Dad.

Visitation Sun., Oct. 14 at Forward Church, 455 Meyers Rd, Cambridge, 2-4pm and at Coutts Funeral Home, 96 St. Andrews St, Cambridge from 7-9pm and from 10am-11 am for 1 hr prior to the Memorial Service, which is Mon., Oct 15 at Forward Church at 11am. Interment following at St. Peter’s Erindale Anglican Church, Mississauga.

In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated for The Gideons International of Canada, High Adventure Ministries (hagcm.com) or a charity of your choice.