Howard Huston, Jr. was born on April 18,1926 to Elizabeth R. (Ebersole) and Howard (Curly) Huston, Sr., raised in Rocky Grove, PA, and passed away on February 22, 2024, at the age of 97, in West Plains, MO.
Preceding him in death was his wife, Geraldine (Gerry) Eleanor (Ross) Huston (November 17, 1990); and is survived by his sister, Eleanore (Huston) Moffitt, of Erie, PA; two daughters, Cheryl Ann Huston of Eugene, OR and Sandra (Sandy) Elizabeth (Huston) Doutt and her husband, Danny Q. Doutt of Mercer, PA, as well as two grandchildren, Heather Marie (Doutt) Espada of Middletown, RI, and Chase Daniel Doutt of Raleigh, NC and four great grandchildren.
The Huston family was known as the musical family in the Franklin/Oil City area.
At the age of 8, Howard became interested in the drums and took lessons from Harland Mitchell of Oil City, PA.
He was the youngest member of the Rocky Grove Volunteer Firemen’s Band at the age of 12.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Howard was a drummer in the Carl Hedglin Trio along with Rex Mitchell.
They played in such venues as the Cross Creek Country Club, Shippenville, Emlenton and many other sites in northwestern Pennsylvania.
He was also a member of the Oil City Masonic Pipe Band and took part in many local parades in many northwestern PA counties including Venango County.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a pilot cadet in 1944 and was discharged in 1948.
He was a member of the Army Air Force Band from 1945 to 1948.
He was married in the Franklin First Baptist Church on September 6, 1947.
He was employed by Daniels Mayflower Moving and Trucking Company located in Franklin, PA for many years.
In 1972, the Huston family moved to Grand Island, NY, where he worked at Ross Lawn Equipment.
He and his wife retired in 1987 and moved to Port Charlotte, FL where she passed away in 1990.
In December 1993, he was remarried to Mary Ann (Mancini) of Port Charlotte, FL and lived there until her death on July 17, 2006.
In 2016 he moved to Mountain Home, AR.
Howard was a 32nd degree Free Mason and belonged to the Myrtle Lodge of Sandy Lake, PA.
The interment will be held in Sunset Hill Memorial Gardens, Cranberry, PA, at the discretion of the family.
