TAYLOR MILL — Former Holmes High School Principal Richard G. “Dick” Howard, who was remembered for quiet leadership and discipline, died Friday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Edgewood from complications of cancer. He was 63.

        Mr. Howard served two terms in the late 1990s as the interim superintendent of Covington Independent Public Schools before his retirement in 1997.

        A 1956 graduate of Holmes High School, he began his 36-year career as a teacher at John G. Carlisle Elementary in 1961. He was named principal in 1967.

        In 1971 Mr. Howard became principal of the former Covington Junior High School, a position he held until 1987 when he became principal at Holmes.

        “He was a Covington person through and through, he was a very altruistic person in that,” said Rick Sacksteder, a counselor and chair of guidance services at Holmes, who worked with Mr. Howard.

        Mr. Sacksteder said Mr. Howard was decisive and amicable.

        “He was first and foremost a disciplinarian,” said Cindy McQuillan, Mr. Howard's administrative assistant from 1987-94. “He would gain great satisfaction from walking the halls and making the kids do what they were supposed to do.”

        Bill Grein, the current Holmes principal who succeeded Mr. Howard, said he always seemed calm and under control, and carried a presence important for a principal to have.

        “He didn't speak loud, but when he did speak it was generally something people needed to listen to because it was generally well thought out,” Mr. Grein said.

        Mr. Howard's son, Dan of Taylor Mill, said he was a family man who was a softball coach, Sunday school teacher, and who helped take care of his father, older sister and large extended family.

        In addition to his son, surviving are his wife of 43 years, Bert Browning Howard; two other sons, Richard of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Tim of Covington and five grandchildren.

        Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and service 1 p.m. Monday at Oak Ridge Baptist Church, 6056 Taylor Mill Road, Covington. Burial will be in Floral Hills Memorial Gardens, Taylor Mill.

        Memorials: Goshen Christian Church, Bracht-Piner Road, Morningview, KY 41063.

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