Editor’s Note: As our nation celebrates Black History Month, this three-part series in The Norwich Times will review the accomplishments of some of the exceptional athletes from Norwich who attended NFA and were inducted into the NFA/Norwich Sports Hall of Fame. This is the first in our series.

Every once in a while, a family of athletes can have a big impact on sports teams in a small city. One of those families in Norwich in the 1950s and 1960s were the children of Timothy and Fannie (Roach) Howard. The following are short profiles of these athletes, all of whom are in the NFA/Norwich Sports Hall of Fame.

Leon Howard, Class of 1959

Leon participated in frosh basketball his freshman year; JV basketball his sophomore year; varsity basketball his sophomore, junior and senior years; frosh football his freshman year; varsity football all four years; frosh baseball his freshman year, JV baseball his sophomore year, varsity baseball his junior and senior years; SAB his freshman and sophomore years; and Varsity Club his freshman, sophomore and junior years

Athletic awards he received include the gold and silver medal, the statuette, the sweater, and his varsity letter.

On Field Day in 1959, Leon received the Seven-Up Basketball Award, the Ogulnick Jeweler Basketball Award, the Durable Factory Outlet Award, the Thamesville A.C. Award, the Gold Insignia for Football and the Varsity Club Cup. He was named Class Athlete.

Leon was inducted into the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 for his extraordinary athletic accomplishments and the NFA Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Leon attended Johnson C. Smith University, where he majored in physical education. He played football for one year and basketball for four years. During his junior and senior year, he got drafted into the Army; but went into the Marine Corp Reserves as a sergeant.

Leon’s favorite sport was baseball; he tried out for the Houston Colt 45s, Houston’s top minor league team, but was cut.

He returned to Connecticut, where he worked for Electric Boat in the engineering department for six to seven months. He applied for a position in Baltimore and worked for 20 years at the Lafayette Recreation Center. He was in charge of youth football and basketball summer teams.

Leon currently resides in Baltimore, where he lives with his wife Patricia and his

son Jamal and daughter Kauscha. He lost his son Leon Jr. to leukemia.

Barbara Jean Howard–Craigen, Class of 1961

Barbara was a member of the softball, basketball and volleyball champion team and the senior honor team. She received girls’ awards for intramural competition in softball, basketball and volleyball and also participated in fencing. Barbara was also named Best Dancer along with her classmate Dan Jenkins. Barbara was inducted into the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 for her extraordinary athletic accomplishments.

After high school, Barbara married Isaac Craigen (now deceased) and moved to Los Angeles, where they raised two children: daughter Senita and son Isaac IV. Barbara retired after 40 years of service to UCLA, where she maintained its computer system.

Douglas MacArthur Howard, Class of 1963

Douglas, known as Mac, participated in baseball all four years, basketball all four years, football as a freshman and sophomore, intramural sports as a junior and senior, Varsity Club as a sophomore, junior and senior, and Varsity Patrol as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Mac was named the 1963 Class Athlete and on Field Day received the Robert O. Fletcher & Charles Willey Cup, the highest athletic award. He also received the Ogulnick Jewelers Award in Basketball, Lehigh Awards in Basketball and Baseball, and the Gold Medal (700 point trophy) for Basketball and Baseball, summarizing four years of participating in interscholastic sports.

Mac was inducted into the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and the NFA Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 27, 2001.

After high school, Mac worked at Pratt & Whitney for several years and Pittsburg Plate Glass Company (PPG) for 28 years until his retirement. Mac was the assistant manager for three Branches of PPG. Mac resides in Bloomfield with his wife Vetrell, and they have two sons, Douglas Jr. and Aaron. Both are retired and enjoy time with their grandchildren.

Robert L. Howard, Class of 1964

Robert, known as Bobby, participated in frosh Basketball and football his freshman year; varsity basketball and football his sophomore, junior and senior years; track all four years; and Varsity N Club his sophomore, junior and senior years.

Bobby was an outstanding football player at NFA. Some of the Bulletin sports captions were: “Speedy Bobby Howard staged a spectacular break-away running show to score three touchdowns-New Britain”; “Bobby Howard staged a phenominal exhibition of break-away running and speed scoring three touchdowns-Fitch”; “The second and fourth NFA touchdowns were made by Howard-Weaver”; “Howard broke loose and raced 65 yards for a touchdown.”

When Bobby graduated in 1964, he was named Class Athlete and received the 1964 Durable Factory Outlet Award, Ogulnick’s Basketball Trophy, and the Highest Athletic Award presented to a Senior, the Robert O. Fletcher & Charles Willey Cup.

Bobby married the former Roberta J. Delgado after he graduated and they had a son Robert L. Howard II. In 1968, Bobby entered the U.S. Army and was sent to Vietnam. On June 10, 1969, he was killed in action; his son Robert II was 4 years of age when he died. Bobby’s name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located across from NFA.

Bobby was posthumously inducted into the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame on June 11, 1989. When Robert II accepted his father’s award he tearfully conveyed: “I don’t have as many memories as everybody else that knew him does, but I know that in my heart that my father gave his best regardless if it was football, basketball, track, to his family and to this country. I would like to say: I am proud of you Dad and that I miss you and I love you.”

Bobby was posthumously inducted into the NFA Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Robert II had joined Sons and Daughters In Touch (SDIT), a national support organization committed to uniting the Gold Star sons and daughters of American servicemen who were killed, or who remain missing, as a result of the Vietnam War. The bond they shared helped him to overcome his loss.

In 2002, Robert II met his dad’s commanding officer, William H. Zierdt III, who had sent a type-written letter about his father’s death to a 4-year-old boy. When Bill Zierdt saw the letter on his computer that he had written 32 years earlier, it triggered his PTSD which he sought help for; this was the beginning of his recovery.

In 2003, Robert II traveled to Vietnam with SDIT and traveled to A Shau Valley, the place of his death, to pay homage to his father and participate in a Vietnamese ritual. On this day, Robert was able to find internal peace and forever let “Bobby’s spirit rest.”

In 2005, Michael Putzel published a true story, “The Price They Paid – Enduring Wounds of War.” Both Commander Zierdt and Robert II’s stories are told in this book, which is available at Norwich Public, Catholic and local charter schools, Otis Library, NFA, Three Rivers Community College and St. Bernard School, the latter of which Robert II attended and graduated from.

Robert II has been invited to speak about his father and his profound loss, which has assisted him and others to heal. Robert II is the father of three sons; Kamari, Robert III and Quincy.