Howard Schwalbach
July 4, 1918 - September 18, 2009

Howard was born on July 4, 1918 in St. Paul, Minnesota to the late John J. and Veronica (Aydt) Schwalbach. St. Andrew's Catholic Church in St. Paul is where Howard was baptized (July 8, 1918) and received his First Holy Communion (March 29, 1927). Howard graduated from North St. Paul High School in 1936.

On November 19, 1940, Howard married Lorraine Ford in North St. Paul. They lived in Seattle Washington where Howard worked as a trained machinist building hydraulic steering for the warships. Howard attended University of Washington-Engineering Science Management War Training Program as well as Dunwoody Institute and became certified in multiple areas of mechanical engineering.
In 1946, Howard and his wife moved to Windom where they raised a family of nine children. Howard, along with Kurt Vogel, purchased Clark Hardware. Later, he became sole owner of Schwalbach Hardware. Howard retired in 1985 at the age of 67. Schwalbach Hardware has continued to be owned and operated by Howard's son, Michael Schwalbach.

One of Howard's outstanding accomplishments was serving the City of Windom as a member of the City Council for 32 consecutive years. He was elected to serve on the City Council as alderman-at-large from 1956 to 1988. Howard was also a member of the Windom Area Jaycees; the Chamber of Commerce; Windom State Bank Board member; Windom Industrial Development (WIDC); Minnesota-Dakota's Retail Hardware Assn; St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church; and the Knights of Columbus. Howard enjoyed gardening, music, golfing, playing cards, square dancing, spending time with his family & friends, and wintering in Mission, Texas. He loved to stay active and was a man of many skills & talents.

Howard was survived by his 9 children: Howard Schwalbach, Jr. (Kathleen) of Flushing, MI, John Schwalbach (Glenda) of Anthem, AZ; Gerald Schwalbach (Susan) of Scottsdale, AZ; Donna Peterson of Plymouth, MN; Mary Holmen of Windom, MN; Patricia Schulz (Robert) of Hartford, WI; Janel Peterson (Rodney) of Omaha, NB; Susan Dwight-Roen (William) of Somerset, WI; Michael Schwalbach of Windom, MN; 27 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; siblings: Kenneth Schwalbach (Jan) of Shoreview, MN; Harvey Schwalbach(Lois) of Hendersonville, NC; Paul Schwalbach (Pat) of Sun City West, AZ; Martha Kohler (Richard) of Hugo, MN; and Donna Marie Schober (Dan) of St Paul, MN; and two sisters-in-law: Ardis Schwalbach, St. Paul, MN; and Rose Schwalbach, Windom, MN.

Howard was preceded in death by: his wife, Lorraine (on January, 24, 2003); his parents; siblings, Donald, John and James Schwalbach, Eleanore Sinn and an infant sister; and sons-in-law, Ronald Peterson and Roger Holmen.

Community service and helping others was an important part of Howard's life. The family prefers memorials to the Sharing Center,%Joyce Ysker 148 10th Street, Windom, MN. The Sharing Center telephone number is 507-831-4657.

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