Howard James McMasters was born on August 4th, 1921 in Riverton, Minnesota-he was 88 years of age when he left us on Sunday afternoon December 20th of this past year. His parents were Harry and Clara McMasters and they had a very large family of six kids. Dad’s siblings were Bob, Bernice (we called her Bunny), Edward and his little sister Eunis. His father was a good father, stern but fair and his Mother was a well educated and cultured woman who taught catechism and was a marvelous Pianist. They grew up in an era of the Great Depression where most of the small town of about 100 Families was unemployed, primarily  from the closed mines. One of the few that had a job was Howards father, who was the Engineer for the mining companies’ train and they kept it going after the mines were shut down just in case they could re-open at a later date. Families in those days took care of each other and the McMasters family made significant contributions to their neighbors in those times. It’s not that they had a lot of money but they were better off than most so they shared their garden and their life with those who were struggling. Each of the kids had a job within the household, some took care of the gardens and some handled the upkeep of the house and property. Dad’s job was to go out every day and hunt and fish for the day’s food. His father got him the best 22 rifle in the town and taught him to shoot and fish. Dad would not come home unless he had caught or killed something for their dinner.    During some seasons, he also gathered wild rice along the river, trapped frogs or other river products and sold them in the neighboring towns. 

Dad was a natural leader with an outgoing personality and everyone liked him. But being one of four brothers and the youngest, he also had to be tough and resilient. He met our Mom when she moved into town from Grange,  Wisconsin-her father was one of the last really good Black Smiths and had secured a shop in the neighboring town of Brainerd.   Close friends said Dad, at age 16 was totally smitten with this shy Wisconsin girl and he never wavered in that affection for our Mom. They eventually moved to the West Coast sometime in the early 40’s and were married. All three of their sons were born in the Bay Area, mostly at the old Mills Hospital, which is no-longer there. During those years Dad worked for an Ice Company hauling blocked ice, bar tended and at one time owned a small Cleaners in San Mateo on El Camino Real. But health issues with his family drew him back to Minnesota and he went to work for awhile with Paul Nielsen, his father in-law to learn how to weld and finally ended up working for the Steel Mill in the Twin Cities area.

Once his brothers had all settled in Northern California he finally decided to move back to the West Coast for good. Dad ultimately developed into a Master Welder and one of the best in his trade on the West Coast working for Bethlehem Steel. The Steel Company used to contract him out to other companies to complete more difficult jobs-he was one of the top welders in that industry and could handle any type of welding then needed by the ship builders or other users of heavy steel products.   The most difficult part of working in the Steel Mills was the union strikes and trying to feed your family. So Dad often worked two jobs, mostly as a short order chef with a local “Steak and Stein” or he tended bar. One of the best stories I heard from my Mom’s brother, Uncle Carl, was when seven sailors came into the bar Dad was working and started drinking heavily and fighting. Dad warned then to quit and get out but when they refused, Uncle Carl said you didn’t mess with Howard when he got angry and sure enough Howard kept a short billy club under the bar and he was tough so he leapt over the bar in one move and took them all on to their dismay and he cleaned the place out very quickly. Dad could fight and he had a temper along with “pop eye” arms from welding all of those years. Not too many people messed with this little guy and he seldom backed down.   During those years and after several moves the family ended up in Southern California  where Dad worked for U.S. Steel until they closed that plant -Dad was then in his late 30’s. We ended up in Whittier California  in the early 1950’s  where we completed most of our schooling. We grew up in rental housing and lived in a lot of different homes but we had a wonderful childhood and our parents always did the best they could for their kids. We didn’t own a home until we were in High School.  It was in Whittier where Dad began his wonderful journey of community service and developing into the leader we all saw in him over the years.

In those years the strongest community organization in most communities was the local Elks Lodge-most of the most powerful people in the community were members. In Whittier the publisher of the newspaper, the owner of the Milk Company, the Mayor, the Chief of Police and everyone else of prominence were Elks. Somehow Dad was asked to join. He was a blue collar guy with barely a High School Education but he was outgoing and personable so he soon fit right in with these very powerful people. In order to keep up with a more affluent crowd, Dad volunteered for everything and had a ball doing it-and he was a great organizer, quick on his feet with an unending amount of energy. Dad also was pretty bright-more street smart than most. He could talk anybody into anything when it came to giving their time and money. With three soon to be six foot sons, all in scouting, he ultimately took over the Elks youth activities. He also worked his way up the ranks and became Exalted Ruler of the Whittier elks Lodge 1970-71. In over 50 years, Howard McMasters dedicated himself to the Scouting program thru the Elks and every other youth programs his local lodge sponsored. He’s helped more kids get scholarships and support than anyone most of us know. His garage is full of plaques, certificates and recognition for all of his efforts. The Elks, in 2004 recognized his gifts to the youth of this country by presenting him a national award, the Marvin M Lewis Award presented at their national convention for 53 years of exemplary commitment to the youth of this nation. He was given the opportunity thru the Elks to soar and he did-all of his life.

During those years he was our rock, our cub master, our scout master and a strong moral guide for all of us kids. Not just for his son’s but for our cousins and every other kid who every met him. Some of the fun things I remember were at the events he put on within the community; many involved him inviting famous people and celebrities to help him raise money. Some I met, some I just heard about-these included the famous Coach George Allen, Jerry West, Eddy Arcaro, the famous Jockey and of course Billy Barde, the most famous “Little Person” in television history. Billy became one of Dad’s best friend and helped line up celebrities for Dad’s events. We have a picture of Dad, at 5’ 8” with Billy, only 3’ 10” and the tallest man in the world at that time at 7’8” all attending one of Dad’s Eagle Scout dinners.

When U.S. Steel closed down in Southern California one of the Whittier Elks, a then sitting Superior Court judge offered to get Dad into the U.S. Government if he could pass an Exam required of all government employee’s. We all remember the many weeks Dad and Mom sat up after Dad got home from some job he was working and Mom taught Dad how to write and communicate so he could take that test. Mom had been an Honor student when she was in High School so she had the discipline to pass on to Dad, who hadn’t  particularly  enjoyed going to school. His idea of a good day when he was growing up was to go hunting or fishing. After three efforts of taking that test he ultimately passed and was hired with the U.S. Defense Department attached to the Navy. He worked with the U.S Government until he retired at age 65. All those years of welding and working in the Steel Industry had made him a man industry needed. He spent those years training his future bosses who had more education but he loved what he did and appreciated the opportunity. Our Dad always gave you 150% no matter what the circumstance. His feelings were that if you can’t give your employer your very best, don’t complain, just go get another job -he wasn’t sympathetic to people who complained about their jobs. Dad never asked for anything he didn’t earn. One of my favorite stories during those years was one evening when I had to go up to a rich doctors house up in the Whittier foot hills to collect a monthly newspaper subscription on my paper route and they had left their big Dalmatian dogs out for the evening. As I walked up the driveway to the house, four of these huge dogs charged me, ripping my clothes and biting my arm and my butte. I kept my bicycle in between me and the dogs and got away with relatively little damage. This rich doctor came to our home the next night quite apparently concerned my father, on strike at the time, would seek legal recourse and it would cost the doctor a lot of money. My Dad was amazed at the doctors concern and said, my son is fine, just cover the doctor’s bills, replace his shirt and pants and start paying your bills by mail or lock up those dogs. He never once considered asking for anything from them. That doctor became a very good friend to our family over the years-even took out my appendix years later for no charge to our family.

His years working for the Navy, as a civilian employee got him working with top Navy commanders; many of his friends were Majors, Colonels and Generals. They found out about his skills as an organizer and soon was spending more time putting on all of the Governments community projects, picnics, retirement dinners and every other project they could find instead of his regular job.   Again, the garage is full of accommodations for Dad’s “good works” and efforts within his community. Howard McMasters was everyone’s “go to guy” when it came to getting people involved in charities, community outreach programs and youth programs.

In his later years with the Paso Robles Elks lodge, many years after retiring, he continued to work on community outreach programs and helped the lodge with their Lodge Ritual teams and youth programs. He continued running the Annual Eagle Scout dinners and he was known in the community for giving the American Flags to local schools and community centers. The Elks has always been one of the prime resources for getting an American flag when you needed one and Dad knew the history of the flag and how to care for it so he would go the schools, teach the kids the flags history and how they should store, display and dispose of an old flag. The local paper called him Mr. Flag man.

 After our Mom’s passing 10 years ago, Dad ultimately remarried and moved to Pismo Beach joining the Ocean Lodge. Howard was married to our Mom, Florence for 58 years until she passed away in 1999 at the age of 78 years. He was ready to cash it in  then not feeling much purpose in his life  but decided he liked life too much so he rebounded and found a wonderful outlet in his love of dancing. In that effort he found life again and a wonderful thing happened, he met Joan on the dance floor. He fell in love again with this quiet and graceful English woman, they got married and this started a second life for both of them.   We all remember the wedding held at the Oceana Elks Lodge where Joan and Howard danced every dance all afternoon while we recovered from our one or two dances.  Joan became his confidant, dancing partner and traveling companion and these two wonderful people found a new kind of happiness and joy in their later years that few have found. Dad loved Joan, Joan loved Dad and we love Joan. She made his later years a new and wonderful journey and we will always be grateful and she will always be a part of our family. How many of us men can say we’ve fallen in love twice in our lives and met and lived with two such amazing woman. Dad’s life was indeed charmed  and he often acknowledge the gifts he received. Another amazing side to our Father was not only his love and devotion to his immediate family and but also to our extended family of Uncles, Aunts and Cousins all over this country. Since he came from a large family and Mom also had three siblings, we have a lot of relatives and our parents became the glue that connected all of us and continued to keep us in touch for most of his lives. Today I’m proud to say we have close relationships with most of our family because of our parents and they all love their favorite Uncle Howard. We spent our summers either going back to Minnesota, coming up the Bay Area or them visiting us in Whittier. Some of my fondest memories were those summers with my favorite Cousins, the McMasters girls from San Mateo, Joanne, Barbara, our wonderful Fran and Carol Sue and of course, the senior Cousin and lead dog, Cousin Donna Jean. 

Our Dad was the glue that made us aware of our roots, our extended family and taught us the values we all live by today. It’s not that he was always teaching us but rather by the way he lived his life is how we learned. Dad wasn’t without flaws and in fact had a temper and didn’t always know how to raise his boys-he was often tougher on my oldest brother and Steve and I got a less severe response when we got in trouble but he loved us and as we sit here today, my brothers and I know in our hearts that this man had tremendous integrity, lived a moral life and loved his family. He did the best he could in living his life and touched a lot of people in the process. Howard McMasters was also a great Elk, a loving teacher to our children, and good friend. He loved his grandchildren and they loved him.

Finally, I’d like to thank all of you who are with us today to celebrate his life. There’s so much more to the gifts he gave us but it’s time to move on with our lives.   A special thanks to the remarkable  neighbors who have watched over Joan and Howard thru this past difficult year and been friends to them much longer-particularly Karen and John.   Also thanks to Joans’ thoughtful caregiver Linda who is helping Joan get thru this difficult period. Thank you to all of the Elks here today and the representatives of the Boy Scouts of America. Thank you to our wonderful Nephews and Nieces of my wife’s family who are here to support us as they always have, especially Kevin for coming all the way from Boise to be with us. Also and maybe most important, Dad’s favorite Granddaughters, Michelle (all the way from Denver) , Rayna and Kendra, each who visited Dad in his last months and each who hold this man in a very special place in their hearts. Finally, our family’s most sincere thanks to our Joan, for all of the love she gave to Dad and for being part of our family.