Lt. Commander Howard Walter Masterman, Jr.

Lt. Commander Howard Walter Masterman, Jr. passed away on May 14, 2021 in Newton, MA.

He was born March 16th, 1949 in Long Beach, CA to Howard W. Masterman Sr. and Lucille O (Graves) Masterman.

He married Loretta Jean Barry of Providence, RI on April 17th, 1971. Howard is survived by his wife of 50 years Loretta, their two sons Christopher and Stephen, their granddaughter Hannah, and his sister Pamela Reese. He is predeceased by his younger brother Martin. Howard enlisted in the Navy in 1969 as an electronics specialist and was sent to Antarctica to complete three tours. During his distinguished career in the Navy he rose to the rank of Lt. Commander, and was stationed in Texas, Virginia, Spain, Maine, Massachusetts, and finally California. He traveled with his family to Mexico, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland,and all over the U.S. When Howard retired in 1993, he kept his promise to Loretta to return to her roots and go home to Providence.

In his youth Howard had many interests including gymnastics, diving, rollerskating, sailing, fishing, woodworking, gardening, and playing the guitar. He taught many of these skills to his boys, and also introduced them to computers at an early age. He also learned Spanish. Howard became quite the chef, as many friends and family will attest to. He showed his love through his cooking. His holidays dinners were superb, his gravy and parker house rolls legendary.

A service will be held at Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Exeter, RI on Tuesday, May 25th, 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations to Rhode Island Veterans Home Fund, 480 Metacom Ave, Bristol, RI 02809 in his memory would be appreciated.