Donald "Don" Deane Howard

Having lived in Hesperia for 27 years he often talked about what a great move it was for him and his wife Judie, who passed away 10 years ago.

Born and raised in Pasadena, Don went into the Airforce right out of Highschool. Upon completing his service in the Airforce, he went to work for Caltech at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where he worked for 40 years. His wife Judie also worked at JPL for 38 years.

Don was a pioneer in Aerospace and helped found the Hardware Quality Assurance organization. He had the honor and privilege of having worked on all the Surveyor and Ranger missions to the Moon, before the first Moon landing.

In addition, he worked on the first interplanetary spacecraft missions to all of our planets. The Pioneer, Voyager 1 & 2 missions to the outer planets, the Mariner Orbiters and Viking lander to Mars, the Galileo Spacecraft to Jupiter, the Magellan Spacecraft to Venus, the Cassini Spacecraft to Saturn and countless other Earth orbiting satellite missions. In addition, he worked on the Wide Field Planetary Cameras (WFPC 1&2) as part of the Hubble Space Telescope.

His significant contributions to JPL, NASA, the United States and the world have helped shape and improve our understanding of Earth’s Ecosystem, our planetary solar system and the universe. He supported 16 launches at Kennedy Space Center in the 1960s and 1970s, and drove across the United States 14 times, often with the whole family packed in a camper, along with our St. Bernard Brandy.

Don was a great example of someone who really enjoyed life. He knew how to work hard and also understood the need to take time off and relax. After all – no one ever said on their death bed “I only have one regret, that I should have worked more overtime!”

He was a big believer in getting together with family for holidays and vacations. His parties were legendary and we often spent our summers fishing, hiking and waterskiing at Lake Almanor in Northern California.

Don is survived by his Daughters Lesa and Cyndi, along with his Son David and Nephews Sean and Mike. In addition, he has 12+ Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

He will be forever loved, greatly admired and dearly missed.

PS - Keep your loved ones close. Be quick to forgive and slow to anger, and don’t forget to take lots of home movies. You’ll be glad you did.

Sean Howard