Howard Frederick Voigt

Howard a loving father to his three children, a friend to many, and a role model to all. After living a “dream”, Howard passed away at 86 years old after a courageous battle with Covid-19 in Sun City, Arizona.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Esther and Clarence Voigt, Howard was a car fanatic from an early age. The car craze was cemented in him after handing tools to the local mechanics at a local gas station and slowly working on the cars himself. After he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Howard headed to Detroit to pursue his passion for cars. He was accepted into the prestigious Chrysler Institute of Technology, which was focused on transforming general engineers into the first breed of Automotive Engineers. After earning his Masters in Automotive Engineering, Howard started designing cars first for Chrysler and then for Ford where he stayed for over 30 years. During his tenure of at Ford, Howard had the honor to work with and for the many legends in the Automotive world such as Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford II to name a few. Howard worked across multiple car teams over his tenure at Ford including being a member of the famed Team Taurus. He later finished his career as one of the few Chief Engineers at Ford and a past President of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

In parallel with his corporate career, Howard spent considerable time fueling his passion for classic cars, especially the 1957 to 1959 Ford Retractable due to their state-of-the-art engineering. Widely recognized as a world expert for these cars, Howard fielded calls from around the world trying to help people appreciate and restore them. A few highlights included having one of his 1959 Retractable’s featured in Motor Trend magazine and winning the best of show just a few years ago for a 1958 Retractable at the National Meet.

In his later years, Howard focused all his energy on his children, his cars, the church, and his friends. His legacy, strength, faith, drive and determination will live on in his three children, his seven grandchildren, his brother Donald Voigt, and his many friends.

The family would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love, kind thoughts and wonderful stories you continue to share with us. It is simply amazing the number of lives he positively touched, changed, and impacted during his time with us. In memory, his only wish is for each of us to extend a helping hand to those that need help and to know that a profound belief in God is the most important guiding light.

Howard will be cremated and then buried with his loving wife, Beverly Voigt who he lost over 20 years ago after a long battle with cancer. He was looking forward to being reunited. A memorial service has not been set due to the ongoing battle with Covid but will be held at some point in Michigan.