Howard W. Clarke

Howard W. Clarke (born June 12, 1929 in Waterbury, Connecticut) passed away January 24, 2015 after a brief illness. Howard was Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Howard was educated at Holy Cross College and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. He taught classics and comparative literature at Harvard, Boston University, Michigan State, Göttingen, Germany; and the University of California, Santa Barbara

He was the author of The Gospel of Matthew and Its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel, The Art of the Odyssey; and Homer’s Readers: A Historical Introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey He was a sergeant in the Army Security Agency in Berlin (1953–56). From 1993 to 2010 he served as a Destination Lecturer on cruise ships operating in the Mediterranean area.

Howard was proud and happy to move his family to beautiful Santa Barbara in 1969 and continued to praise Santa Barbara’s beauty and climate to his family and friends near and far.

Howard is survived by his wife Ursula, daughters Anne and Christine (Abhay), and grandson Neil. His family would like to thank Dr. Erno Daniel of Sansum Clinic and the nurses and patient care technicians of the Cottage Hospital MICU and Cardiac Telemetry Units for their care and compassion during Howard’s illness.

A small family funeral service was conducted at Calvary Cemetery January 29 by Howard’s friend, Father Noel Barber, S.J.