My name is Laura Howard. Wes Howard was my husband, and father to Holly and Harrison. He recently passed away very unexpectedly August 18th. Wes was an organ donor, and there was enough time to find recipients for his kidneys, and I think about those people every day. I hope they are able to get more time with their families.

I know that Wes's loss is larger than our immediate family, as he had been a guitar/music teacher for more than 30 years. He also wrote, recorded, and played with other musicians. He didn't care what you wanted to play, he was just excited to help you reach whatever goal you had.

Wes had his own musical goals. Sometimes it was to play every song on let's say the first 10 Melvins albums, or to release both an ambient and acoustic album AT THE SAME TIME. He was learning all the Tarrega preludes. Every time we watched a ranking video of any sort, we had to make our own lists before watching someone else's list. We even had to, each of us separately, figure out who the best rock guitarist of all time was. We didn't discuss until we both had our answer, I am happy to report, we both chose Alex Lifeson (of Rush).

Wes loved hiking, he hiked the Potomac Heritage Trail. He loved darts(we played almost every night). He also LOVED playing disc golf with his brother, Wayne and whomever else they could get to tag along. He had recently gotten a telescope, which was so much fun.

With his passing, my household needs a little help from his friends. Wes didn't have a will, he was only 56, who needs one at 56? I will need to use the funds raised until his estate is settled, BUT...

I had an idea last night that I would love to petition Loriella Park, where they loved to play, to have a memorial bench made in Wes's honor. So that's what I will use whatever funds I don't immediately need. I think that would be so great to go to the park and see that there.

I don't think I could memorialize his love for music any more than those students who have gone on to teach or inspire other's musical endeavors.

He was a wonderful, caring, talented and funny person. I, we, love him, and will miss him forever.

I will never be able to thank you enough for your generosity and caring through these difficult times. Our whole family really appreciates the love.