Jasper Howard Death, Obituary – Jasper Smith Howard (’54), a former ACU trustee who served for a long time, passed away on January 25, 2023 in Texarkana, Texas. He was 90 years old. The Texarkana Funeral Home will be hosting a visitation on February 10, 2023 between the hours of 6 and 8 p.m. (3515 Texas Blvd., Texarkana, Texas 75503). At 10 o’clock in the morning on February 11, 2023, funeral services will be performed at Walnut Church of Christ (2720 Moore’s Lane, Texarkana, Texas 75503)
Even though Conway, Arkansas was his hometown, Howard was born in Monroe, Louisiana on November 24, 1932, while the rest of his family was on vacation there. In 1950, he received his high school diploma from Greenville (Texas) High School. During his time at ACU, where he earned a degree in commerce and served as president of his freshman, sophomore, and junior classes as well as vice president of his senior class, he also got married to a fellow student named Peggy Bobo (’55). After the war was over, he enlisted in the United States Army and fought in Germany.
While there, he also attended the University of Heidelberg. Between the years 1969 and 2008, he served on the Board of Trustees of ACU, where he became the chairman of the Finance Committee the year it was established in 1971. In addition to these roles, Howard was a director of both the World Education Foundation and the Howard Foundation. He was also a member of the President’s Advisory Board at Harding University.
During the course of his professional life, he held the positions of president of Howard-Gibco, which was at one point regarded as one of the 100 largest corporations in the state of Texas, and director/treasurer of Gibson Discount Centers and Howard’s Discount Centers, Consolidated Leasing Corporation (Fort Smith, Arkansas), Mid-South Development Company, and Central Printing Company and Stanley Insurance Agency. In addition, he served as an insurance agent for Stanley Insurance Agency (Monroe, Louisiana). Additionally, he held the position of president of Commercial National Bank (Texarkana, Texas).
In 1987, Jasper and Peggy Howard created an endowment scholarship at ACU in honor of Jasper’s parents, V.E. (’35) and Ruth Howard (’35), which is awarded to students majoring in ministerial studies. V.E. was an early Churches of Christ pioneer in the field of radio evangelism. Jasper served the Walnut Church of Christ for 32 years as an elder, during which time he also served as a deacon.