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David Howells, a ‘larger than life’ former Allentown councilman and police chief, dies on 85th birthday

David M. Howells Sr., who served Allentown for half a century, working his way from police officer to police chief, and later from city councilman to council president, died early Saturday after struggling with health problems, Mayor Ray O’Connell said.Howells died at Westminster Village in Allentown on his 85th birthday.Howells’ service to Allentown spanned 11 mayors, starting in 1958 when he joined the police force, where he rose from patrolman to assistant chief before becoming the department’s head in 1984. In a second act, he ran for City Council, where he spent four terms and developed a reputation as a throw-back politician who embraced community roots over campaign contributions.“They always say that some people are larger than life,” O’Connell said Saturday. “Davey Howells was larger than life.” Later, in a formal statement, the mayor called Howells an Allentown icon and “one of the finest citizens this city has ever had.”A former Marine who towered over others at well over 6 feet tall, Howells was known as a cop’s cop in his profession, for his sense of humor and for his gentility. According to his obituary, he was the department’s primary homicide investigator and arrested more than 20 murderers. After his retirement in 1987, Howells flirted with runs for political office, making a brief bid for Congress in 1990 and seeing his name floated for a slew of other positions — mayor, county commissioner and even U.S. senator. But it was on City Council that Howells became a fixture, when he finished first in the Democratic primary in 1993 and was the top vote-getter in the general election that followed. He eventually became council president.“He did whatever he could to make Allentown a better place,” O’Connell said. “Davey was always full of life, upbeat, met every situation, every challenge for the betterment of the city of Allentown.”Never one for campaigning, Howells was defeated in 2009 in a reelection bid amid a crop of council candidates that included O’Connell, a political newcomer at the time.“I don’t raise money,” Howells, then 74, said after the election. “There was one time when I didn’t even put out signs. It’s just not me.”In this 2004 photo at an Allentown City Council meeting, then-President David Howells Sr. (right) chats with then-Mayor Roy Afflerbach. (FRANK WIESE / TMC/)In a letter to The Morning Call in 2009, then-Councilwoman Jeanette Eichenwald acknowledged all the titles Howells held with the city and also noted his Marine Corps service. “In all these capacities, he toiled as a good man who did good deeds,” she wrote.Michael D’Amore, who served on City Council with Howells from 2006 through 2009, said the former chief had a presence that would fill a room. A big man, Howells’ hand would envelope your own when he shook it, D’Amore recalled.“Everyone my age knew Davey Howells as the chief. Everybody did,” said D’Amore, now a district judge.Howells was raised in Allentown and graduated from Allentown High School before serving in the Korean War. D’Amore said Howells was a family man, and the patriarch of a clan that includes David Howells Jr., a former assistant police chief in Allentown who is now also a district judge. In 2007, a third generation joined the police force when David Howells III — the son of Howells Jr. — became an officer.At his last council meeting, Howells Sr. gave a nod to the citizens he long-served, saying, “It’s been a high honor and privilege to serve the people of Allentown, both as a city councilman and a police officer. I will miss you.”Morning Call reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this story.Morning Call reporter Riley Yates can be reached at 610-253-5751 or riley.yates@mcall.com.
Source: Morningcall

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