Howard Anton Romme

Howard was born in Chicago, but moved to Albuquerque when he was a child. He graduated from Albuquerque High School, and was a member of ROTC at the University of New Mexico. He was called up by the U.S. Navy and served as stores officer on an LST ship in the Pacific Theater. Returning to UNM after the war, he completed his studies and graduated with a B.A. in Business Administration. This was when he met the love of his life, Maurine; they were married in 1947 and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2007. Howard has lived in Albuquerque for 75 years, having worked at Sandia National Laboratories for 30 years until his retirement in 1989.

Howard was an avid bicyclist, making a 10-mile round-trip to work every day. He belonged to the New Mexico Mountain Club, and was a fly-fisherman who never had much fancy equipment but almost never failed to catch trout. At age 70 he hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back to the top. In the summers he assisted his son with botanical field work in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. Howard was a member of Saint Luke Lutheran Church and the Bear Canyon Senior Center. He was kind and generous to a fault, and he is deeply missed.

Howard is survived by his two children, five grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.