Date of death: 9/11/2023
Saint Meinrad Class: O 1956
Fr. J. Norbert Howe, age 96 of Lima, OH, passed away Monday, September 11, 2023, at 12:40 a.m., at The Greens of Lima.
Fr. Howe was born October 11, 1926. in Henry County, to James and Mary (Spangler) Howe who preceded him in death.
Survivors include his sister, Carolyn Schnitkey and brother, John (Linda) Howe both of Napoleon, many nieces and nephews, and devoted friend of the family, Rosalyn Eleanor Liston, Ph.D., of Lima.
He is preceded in death by his siblings: Roseanne Bratton, Ruth Howe, Mary Joan Helmheckel, Paul Barry Howe and William Joseph Howe.
Fr. Howe was a 1944 graduate of Napoleon High School and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, from 1944-1946. He entered the seminary in 1947 completing his seminary education at Sacred Heart Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, Saint Meinrad Seminary, St. Meinrad, IN and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Toledo at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, on May 26, 1956.
In 1956, he was exemplified into the 4th Degree of the Knights of Columbus. His first assignment was Norwalk St. Mary’s as associate pastor, from 1956 until 1967, then associate pastor at St. John’s, Lima in 1967. He was named pastor of St. John’s in 1969. In 1977 until 1983 he was pastor of St. Mary’s, Norwalk and St. Alphonsus, Peru. From 1983 until 1985, he was pastor in St. Mary’s, Tiffin and 1985 until 2001, pastor of St. Rose of Lima, in Lima, OH. He retired and continued his priestly ministry at St. Rita’s Hospital and assisted parishes in the Dioceses of Toledo and Cincinnati.
In Lima, he started the Church People for Change and Reconciliation and also started the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen. He was a member of the Literacy Council, Lima Rehab Project, Housing for the Elderly and helped to establish Lima Towers and Pilgrim Place. He began the first Neighborhood Association in Lima-Kibby Corners and North End Neighborhood Association, and established the Samaritan House of Lima.