Kathleen Hara Howe, a former assistant professor and assistant dean in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health (now the department of epidemiology and public health at the School of Medicine), died of cancer on Dec. 3 at Connecticut Hospice. She was a resident of Branford, Connecticut.
Ms. Howe joined the faculty as an instructor in public health in 1956, the same year she earned her master's degree in public health from the University. She was an assistant professor from 1964 to 1974, when she was named assistant dean of public health. She served nearly two decades as chair of the public health department's alumni fund and was a longtime active member of the board of the Yale Alumni Fund. In addition, she served on the University's Subcommittee of Graduate and Professional Schools.
The first recipient of the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Association of Yale Alumni of Public Health, she also received the Chairman's Award of the Yale Alumni Fund. In 1990, she was awarded the Yale Medal, the highest honor given by the Association of Yale Alumni for outstanding service to the University. After her retirement, a scholarship fund was established in her name in the department of public health.
Ms. Howe also received many honors for service to the community beyond Yale. In 1994, former President George Bush honored her as one of the "thousand points of light" for her volunteer work with Hospice. As a Hospice volunteer 1979-97, she drove more than 7,000 patient trips and received the award for volunteerism in the senior category. Her other honors included the Rotary Club Community Service Award, and the David Russell Lyman Memorial Award and the Ira V. Hiscock Award of the Connecticut Public Health Association for contributions in her field.
The former assistant dean was also a volunteer reader for Recording for the Blind and was a volunteer at the East Shore District Health Department. She served as president of the New Haven area Connecticut Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Associations, the Connecticut Health League, the Alcohol Services Association, the Connecticut Public Health Association and the American Lung Association. She was a member of or chaired several statewide committees concerned with health and environmental issues. Her professional affiliations included the New England and American Public Health Associations.
Born July 19, 1912 in Ontario, Canada, Ms. Howe was the widow of Ralph Samuel Howe. She is survived by sons Stephen Howe of Branford; David Howe of Hinsdale, Massachusetts; and John Howe of Brooklyn, New York; and three grandchildren. Memorial contributions can be made to the Kathleen Hara Howe Scholarship Fund at EPH, Public Health Alumni Fund, P.O. Box 1890, New Haven, CT 06508.