Dr. Howard Clayton Carlson

Dr. Howard Clayton Carlson, a retired General Motors executive, former Avondale school board member, avid sportsman and a proud Minnesota Golden Gopher, died Jan. 16, 2017. He was 80.

Born in Pelican Rapids, MN, Carlson was a multi-sport letterman in football, basketball and baseball for the Pelican Rapids High School Vikings, where he also played trumpet in the marching band and participated in track, drama, student council, choir and the student newspaper. He was the valedictorian of his high school class in 1954.

He was offered a minor league contract by the St. Louis Cardinals, but instead chose to attend the University of Minnesota where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1959 and was a member of the University of Minnesota Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He later earned a master’s degree in statistics and a doctorate in industrial and organizational psychology.

After college, Carlson turned his attention to his career at General Motors and raising his family, eventually settling in Bloomfield Hills, MI. During his GM career he held a variety of positions including assistant director of Organizational Research and Development, director of Quality of Work Life Research and executive consultant, Quality of Work Life and Organizational Design for the Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada Group. He was particularly proud of his work developing the philosophy of the all-new Saturn division. He eventually rose to the level General Director of Organizational Research and Development at GM headquarters in Detroit and retired as a vice president in 1991.

His post-GM career included work as vice president and general manager of Personnel Decisions Inc. – Michigan, and later PDI senior vice president of worldwide organizational development. He founded the Michigan office of PDI.

A recognized expert in organizational restructuring for greater effectiveness and vision-generated growth, Carlson was a published author of articles on professional management and organizational change, as well as an instructor at Wayne State University in Detroit and Oakland University in Rochester Hills.

A lifelong learner and avid reader, Carlson was a member of the Avondale Board of Education in Auburn Hills, MI, where he served as president and formed the United Avondale Movement to raise funds to save school programs.

He was a member of the National Organization Development Network, the American Psychological Association (Industrial and Organizational Psychology division) and the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He also was a member and past president of the Michigan Association of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists and served on the Michigan Governor’s Advisory Council on Labor/Management Cooperation.

Carlson loved teaching and coaching young people, and drawing on his sports talent and training, coached Little League baseball and American Legion baseball, with one team advancing to the state championships.

A lifetime member at Hunters Creek Club, Metamora, MI, he enjoyed waterfowl, pheasant and deer hunting, as well as walleye fishing, and loved to share his knowledge of hunting and fishing with his children and grandchildren. Later in life he enjoyed collecting antique fishing lures.

Jack Boe, a friend since high school, recalled playing baseball with Carlson on a Vergas, MN, team and visiting Spanky’s, a favorite nightclub in the area.

“Howard and I spent many hours fishing when he and Gail were back in Minnesota,” Mr. Boe recalled. “We didn't catch many fish but we had great times reminiscing about our escapades while back in high school.”

A devout Catholic, Carlson was a parish council member and lector at Sacred Heart Parish, Auburn Hills, and was a member of St. Benedict’s Parish in Waterford.

“Church was really important to him, as was his family and extended family and his friends,” said his sister, Marjorie Mathison. “He loved greatly his God, his family and his friends, his hometown, Lake Lida, the Vikings, his Michigan home and his career at GM.”

Finally, Mrs. Mathison said, “he was good big brother. We always looked up to him. He was there for his kids and his grandkids, and he was coaching all his life, whether in sports or in life.”

Most recently a resident of Orion Township, Carlson is survived by his wife of 58 years, Gail Ann (Russell); siblings Wallace Carlson of Rothsay, MN, and Marjorie (Mark) Mathison of Fargo, ND; children Julie Carlson of Orion Township, Lisa (Keith) Lowe of Rochester Hills, Paul Carlson of Columbiaville, John (Laura) Carlson of Grand Blanc and Amy (Robert) Duncan of Lapeer; 19 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Lou Carlson, and his parents, Hans and Agnes Carlson.

A funeral Mass is 10:30 a.m. Saturday, preceded by visitation at 10 a.m., at St. Benedict’s Parish, Waterford. Interment will follow at 2 p.m. Saturday at White Chapel Cemetery in Troy.

Visitation is 3-8 p.m. Friday at Pixley Funeral Home, 3530 Auburn Road, Auburn Hills, with a Rosary Service at 4 p.m.

The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, 80 S. Lynn, Waterford, MI, 48328, and YMCA Camp Copneconic, 10407 Fenton Road, Fenton, MI, 48430.