Howard Melvin Joseph Shapiro, z”l, passed away June 16, 2021, shortly after his 90th birthday in his Portland condominium beside his partner of 10 years, Karen Beal. Howard is also survived by his son, Mark; and two grandchildren, Simone and Eve, who called him Buddy. Howard’s daughter, Annie, preceded him in death in 2016 and his sister, Janet Harris, passed away in 2018.
He was born in Los Angeles April 14, 1931, and his parents, Louis and Helen Shapiro, moved the family to Seattle in 1932 where his beloved sister Janet was born in 1934.
From an early age, he loved singing and harmonizing. At Garfield High School, Howard and his best friend Alvin Goldfarb played in bands with classmate Quincy Jones. Eventually, Howard and Alvin formed a musical duet called the Two Tones and toured the United States.
Howard later attended the University of Washington, then joined the United States Coast Guard (1952-1956) where he served as a public affairs officer on the Icebreaker Northwind on a pioneering voyage in the North Passage. His article about the adventure was published in Life Magazine. Later he was stationed in New York City, down the hall from Walter Cronkite, and skippered a boat that patrolled the Seattle waterfront.
In 1957 he married Myrna (Manya) Poll and they had two children, Annie and Mark. Howard worked as an advertising executive during the Mad Men era. Highlights of his early career included the coining of the slogan “Oh Boy Oberto!” He was also responsible for accompanying celebrities on their tour stops in Seattle, and he spent time with Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis, and Sammy Davis Jr.
In 1972, Howard and his family sold their home, bought a Volkswagen camper van, and traveled throughout Europe and Africa. A year later, they relocated to Portland.
Howard gifted us with his vitality, humor, natural creative and musical abilities and a desire to connect wholeheartedly with others. His true passions were philanthropy and volunteer work. He was deeply devoted to social justice and made a significant impact in his many diverse and overlapping communities.
In the early ’80s, after a trek in Nepal, he joined with investment advisor Carsten Henningsen to become trailblazers of socially responsible investing (SRI). They were founders of SRI Northwest, and Howard served on the boards of the national Social Investment Forum and Parnassus Investments, now the world’s largest SRI fund .
As long-term board chair, he led the reinvention and expansion of the Housing Authority of Portland (HAP, now Home Forward). In 2007, HAP commissioned a sculpture named Howard’s Way to honor his contributions to affordable housing. The sculpture, designed by renowned artist Lee Kelly, can be found at the Civic Apartments on West Burnside and Northwest 19th Avenue.
Howard was especially proud of his role in the creation of Albina Bank, McKenzie River Gathering (now Seeding Justice), Food Front and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. He also served on Portland’s Planning & Sustainability Commission and the boards of Oregon Food Bank, SAIF, Oregon Public Broadcasting, The Nation Magazine Foundation, Pacific Northwest College of Art and Camp Caldera. He played a transformational role in many of these organizations and often enlisted the assistance of his close friend Joe Hertzberg in his schemes.
He was perhaps most at home in the beachside town of Manzanita, where he spent nearly half his time over the last 30 years, enjoying solitude, singing and playing the piano by ear. His spiritual mooring was with Rabbi Ariel Stone and Congregation at Shir Tikvah. At age 13, he had both Reform and Conservative bar mitzvahs and was active at Seattle’s Temple De Hirsch.
Howard will be loved and missed every day by his family and his community. Contributions in his memory may be made to Congregation Shir Tikvah, Seeding Justice, PICA, or the Wonder Garden at the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita.