Howard Leroy Herrick was born December 20, 1934 in Kettle Falls, Washington in the backseat of a car, in front of Our Lady of the Valley Convent to Howard Leslie & Verla Mae Herrick. He attended the Daisy one-room schoolhouse, in Daisy, Washington from 1 ^st through 8 ^th grade and Kettle Falls High School where he graduated in 1953. He participated in high school sports, including baseball & football, but his greatest athletic achievement was remaining undefeated throughout his high school boxing career. Following his high school graduation, he began working at Kaiser Aluminum in Spokane, Washington and remained there 43 years until his retirement in 1997. The same year he graduated high school and began his lifelong career at Kaiser he also joined the Marines. Howard was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California for his basic training, then sent to Quantico, Virginia for his explosives and ordinance disposal specialty training where he learned to blow things up, much to his delight. Howard served one year overseas in Japan during the Korean war. While home on leave, following basic training, he met the "cute neighbor girl", Joanne Blaisdell. She held on to his photo for 4 years and dreamed of the day she would see him again. Howard married Joanne, on May 20, 1958 in Spokane.

Howard loved the outdoors, especially time in the woods, hunting, fishing, boating, camping and maintaining his 40 treed acres south of Deer Park, Washington. He thrived on his time with family, attending his grandchildren's sporting events, concerts, plays and graduations. He took pride in making sure his kids and grandkids knew the value of a solid work ethic, but also how to enjoy life, teaching them to fish, hunt, waterski, and how to give their all at everything they did. He spent countless hours on Lake Roosevelt from his early childhood through the Summer of 2019, mooring his 35' Bayliner at Seven Bays Marina for the past 31 years. He was easygoing, always upbeat and had a twinkle in his deep blue eyes that left a lasting impression.

He was preceded in death by his parents Howard & Verla, his sister Francis Hodge and brother Larry Herrick. He is survived by his brother Donald "Donnie" Herrick, beloved wife Joanne, daughters Linda Wolf, Cheryl (Mitch) Yoke, Cindy Giles, son James (Flora) Nenema, grandchildren Lance (Jen) Wolf, Lucas Wolf, Ryan (Leah) Yoke, Rachel Yoke, Justin (Lauren) Yoke, Lindsay Giles, Davis Giles, Salina (Robert Neal) Nenema, James Jr. (Sarah) Nenema, Paul (Autumn) Nenema, 15 great grandchildren as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Howard passed away on Sunday, December 1, 2019, nineteen days shy of his eighty-fifth birthday, while at home with his family following a joyful Thanksgiving weekend. The family will hold a celebration of life at the Open Door Congregational Church in Deer Park, WA on Saturday, December 14 ^th at 11:00am. A reception will follow at the Deer Park Eagles.