Howard Hamilton Harper

HOWARD HAMILTON HARPER, 78, of North Little Rock, Ark., died Jan. 5, 2016. He was born Jan. 11, 1937 in New Orleans, La. to Howard Hamilton Tebault Harper and Flora D. Campos. He is survived by his wife, Margaret (Maggie) Harper Lusk; a sister, Grantlyn Ponze, of New Orleans, La.; and a brother, Bob (Linda) Harper, of Sand Springs, Okla. He is also survived by his children, Mark (Cricket) Harper and Helen (Rodney) Thigpen, and grandchildren: Bradford Hamilton Harper, Marie Alicia Mansell, and Alexandra Rose Thigpen, all of North Little Rock. Other survivors include: Nelda Lusk (mother-in-law); Sally (Frans) van Heugten; and Laura (Richard) Montemayor of Corpus Christi, Texas; Rexa Lee (Robert) Pickett of Deridder, La.; Pat Lusk of Booneville, Ark.; in-laws; Carol Harper of Little Rock (ex-wife); George Raborn of Las Vegas, Nev.; and Lynn Pumphrey of Little Rock, friend for life; as well as nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by a sister, Gail Reed, of New Orleans. Howard graduated from Fortier High School in New Orleans in 1955 and then joined the Air Force where he was an Airman First Class. After discharge, he worked in the office machines business in several states until 1968, when he founded Harper Systems, a telecommunication company in Little Rock, Ark. In 1981, he began working for Sanyo Business Systems Corporation in Moonachie, N.J., as a consultant and became Vice-President of the Information System Group in 1985. While working for Sanyo, Howard demonstrated a rare combination of the ability to understand and develop the engineering and design aspects of the telephone systems, as well as excel as a salesman of those systems. He was a natural salesman and had the gift of gab. More importantly, he thoroughly enjoyed talking to and getting to know people. Even without advanced training, Howard was an excellent mechanical engineer and tinkerer. He could design, renovate or repair almost anything. Howard had a great sense of humor and loved to tell stories and jokes. His eclectic and offbeat sense of humor was a great match with Maggie's, and they enjoyed countless humorous experiences, inside jokes, and funny stories with which he loved to regale friends and acquaintances. Howard loved to fish and tied his own flies for fly fishing. For many years, he enjoyed his house boat on Lake Ouachita, and his family has lots of good memories of times on the lake. Howard was always learning and welcomed new challenges. He was interested in politics and civic affairs, and in 1991 he went to work for Jim Guy Tucker, lieutenant governor of Arkansas, and later as a senior assistant to the governor. Howard loved photography and it grew from a hobby to a small business he and Maggie started after they retired. They became members of the Arkansas Craft Guild in 2001. Howard's father taught him how to use a camera and develop film and he took his first photograph sitting on his father's shoulders; it was a photo of the Morning Call in New Orleans. Howard then taught Mark how to develop black and white film when he was in elementary school and taught him to use his first camera. Howard and his daughter, Helen, had fierce Rubik's cube competitions and they both competed in a Rubik's cube contest when she was in junior high school, and Helen won her age division. They are both good at puzzles and games and shared that ability and interest. One of Mark's favorite memories was when Howard went to bat for him when he was a sophomore in high school and had long hair and the school administration told him that only girls could wear bandanas and he could not wear a bandana to hold his hair back. In the early 1960's, Howard was in the SoHo District in New York City for a business meeting and went to listen to music at a small club, where a musician who was struggling to break into the business was playing. Howard asked if the musician would show him the chords to the song he was playing. The musician agreed and brought Howard up to the stage with him and showed him the chords to play "Blowin' in the Wind" and Howard accompanied him that night. Howard said he and Bob Dylan did not bring the house down. The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Dr. Joe Lee Buford and staff, Leisa House, Dr. Oumitana Kajkenova, Alzheimer's Arkansas, Arkansas Hospice, Angle Shelton, Dee Harris, and Premiere Health & Rehabilitation staff. A celebration of life will be held on his birthday, Monday, January 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home, 1921 Main Street, North Little Rock. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Alzheimer's Arkansas (www.alzark.org) or Arkansas Hospice (www.arkansashospice.org). Further information available at www.northlittlerockfuneralhome.com.