Howard Martin Bickle, age 77, died at his home on April 5th, 2022.
A brother, husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. A jack of all trades. A lesson teacher. A hero.
Born to Lauren and Agnes Bickle in Bremerton, Washington, Howard made Sandy, Oregon his home for the past 43 years. Bickle served his country as a Naval ROTC at the University of Washington before working at the Ballistic Missile Warning Station in Clear, Alaska. Howard then served in the Army as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist in Germany, and was honorably discharged at Ft. Dix, NJ, March 1970. Following this, Howard moved his young family to Portland, Oregon where he started his career in banking. He worked at various banks, but ended up at Prudential, where he specialized in financial planning and securities. When Howard's wife Paula started doing her entrance research, Howard moved from banks to working with financial aspects of the NIH, FDA, EPA, and various research projects. Hard work was significant to Howard, as he was the first in his family to attend college. Howard carried his skills in banking and customer service throughout the remainder of his life; he loved giving people good monetary advice, and could strike up a conversation with anyone.
Aside from Howard’s successes, the most important things in his life was his faith in God, his marriage, and family.
Howard is survived by his wife Paula, children Howard M. Bickle Jr, Mathew Bickle, his wife Tammy; Angie McCall, her husband Rhett; Edward Bickle, his wife Kim; Jason Bickle, his wife Cindy; Heather McMahon, and her husband Mike. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Kelsey, Jessica, Jacob, Valerie, Josiah, Nathaniel, Emily, Miranda, Chris, Daniel, Jonathan, Lexie, Beckham, Taylor-Belle, Caden, and great grandchild Westley. Howard also is survived by his siblings, Beverly and Tom.
Howard’s interests and hobbies varied-he knew how to do everything. Often, he would go fishing, golfing, play tennis, or go ballroom dancing with his wife. Although spending time with family was his favorite, Howard also appreciated a good bourbon. Howard never failed at entertaining his grandchildren-he regularly encouraged, and participated in “water fights”-including squirt guns, water balloons, and getting tossed into the family swimming pool. Water fights were a tradition, and so was wrapping Christmas gifts in Duct Tape; Howard was an expert at that. Howard’s impressive list of hobbies didn’t stop there, as he was also the ring leader for the family Clash of Clans game. As a husband, Howard was a keeper of his word and role model of unconditional love. To his children, he was admired for being genuinely selfless, and a mentor for success. As a grandfather, Howard was everything; a storyteller, homework-helper, and a paragon of (a lot) of patience. It’s Howard’s orneriness, wisdom, and wit that will be missed the most.
“ Let me tell you a secret about a father's love
A secret that my daddy said was just between us
He said daddies don't just love their children every now and then
It's a love without end, amen”
Love Without End, Amen George Strait