Howard Mark Svigals, 71

Howard Mark Svigals of Gig Harbor passed away after a short but courageous battle with colon cancer.

He wore many titles throughout his life: son, brother, Eagle Scout, executive, friend, mentor, colleague, Rotatian, Happy the Clown, Mason, and Shriner, but none was more important than that of husband and father.
A fruit-aholic, stubborn as a mule but generous to a fault (except for himself), Howard spent much of his retirement donating both his time and money to causes he loved.

Howard was first an avid member of the Vienna (VA) Rotary Club and then the Gig Harbor Midday Club. Over the years, he served as Club President, Assistant Governor, Chair of the District 5020 Rotary Foundation Committee (2019–2022), and most recently as Chair of the District Global Grants Sub-Committee. In 2024, he was honored with the District Foundation Service Award for his tireless dedication and generosity. He was most passionate about the Rotary Foundation and was a proud member of the Arch Klumph Society. A steward of the environment, he served various roles with Harbor WildWatch board–including Treasurer, Vice President, and President and contributing financially towards various projects.

He did all this while taping any busted but still vaguely functional piece of machinery together with duct tape (plus or minus a disposable chopstick or paint stirrer) rather than replace it; never buying new clothing unless forced ; and never upgrading technology until whatever he was using before gave up and died first. Despite being an early adopter of the computer and the cell phone, he continued to use a desktop from 2008 that sounded like a space shuttle taking off until his death.

Howard was the king of telling you he’d pick you up for the airport at 6 am and then being in the driveway at 5:30 am wondering why you were late. He loved a good schmorgie (a plate of leftovers that decidedly did not go together that he would probably top with yellow French’s mustard). He would eat a lemon like an apple and loved chewing on the pits of fruit, much to the chagrin of his wife. A child at heart, he was always ready with a terrible but predictable dad joke and made an awesome balloon animal. He was weirdly competitive at board games and thus they were banned in the house lest he lose and hold a grudge the rest of the day.

He was an incredibly patient parent except for that one time his daughter slammed her bedroom door one too many times and he absolutely followed through on the threat to remove it from its hinges. Even while traveling extensively for work he called home every night and was still at plays, games, and award ceremonies whenever possible. When working closer to home he would get up before his busy day to make sure to have an hour of 1:1 time with his daughter. When his daughter didn’t plan in advance for the release of a Harry Potter book he drove all around town hunting for one and was triumphant. He was as tenacious as he was loving.

Despite his many accomplishments, academically at the University of Oregon and the University of Washington, and occupationally at GTE and then Verizon, he struggled with dyslexia most of his life. His brief, misspelled texts and emails lacking punctuation will be sorely missed along with his chicken scratch. He could never remember the names of anyone famous and once sent a text to his daughter saying “squelch from Saved by the bell died” (he meant Screech). He loved yelling at telemarketers on the phone, any reality TV that involved old stuff, repairing something, a gold mine, deep sea fishermen, or a talent show, and Oregon Football.

A generally stoic man of few visible emotions, he would never hesitate to show his love and care for you by sending you a news article about something you’d find interesting, a text about the weather or a highway closure or making a donation to a fundraiser or cause that was important to the people in his life. Ever the businessman, he would at times rain on your parade if he thought you were making an unwise financial choice (even if you thought it was going to be fun).

Howard was preceded in death by his wife of 37 years Elizabeth Svigals in 2019 and parents, Jerome and Lois Svigals. He is survived by his daughter, Sarah (Jason) Kriess, sisters Ellyn (Geoff) Ingalls and Laura (Jay) Brodsky, sister-in-law Denise Scelzo, two nephews, 3 great-nephews, 1 great niece, and thousands of fellow Rotarians around the world.

No funeral is planned. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Harbor Wild Watch or The Rotary Foundation, that you get your colon cancer screenings regularly, and donate blood in his honor.