Alorton Mayor Thomas Howard dies after battle with cancer
Alorton Mayor Thomas Howard battled cancer for two years. He lost his fight Friday and was pronounced dead at his home at 1:10 p.m.
He was 63.
Howard, who had been a police officer with Alorton for 10 years, won the mayor’s seat in the April election. He was a former Alorton police chief.
Howard’s wife, Angela Howard, said he was passionate about getting rid of government corruption.
“He wanted to work to stop all of the corruption in Alorton,” she said.
Angela Howard said her husband had been involved in politics in Alorton for 25 years.
Officer Funeral Home will handle Howard’s funeral arrangements.
Ida Danley, Howard’s youngest sister, said her brother “was a very dedicated and passionate” person.
“If you had any problems or situations that you needed someone to talk to about them, he was the person. He always had an open heart. And, he was committed to his wife,” Danley said.
Carmen Jones, Howard’s sister, said the community will remember Howard as a “caring, compassionate, trustworthy man who sometimes was the life of the party.”
Jones said Howard will be missed a lot by many people because he was a man who gave genuine love.
He was always there for you, no matter what the circumstance was or how he felt at that time,” she said.
Longtime friend Ronnie Robinson said, “He was a good man...He was a man of honor and leadership.”
Robinson added, “Howard always told me he would do his job. I was 21 years old when I met him. He was a policeman. When he became mayor, he again said he was going to do his job. Whatever he did, he always told me he was going to do his job. He had real charisma and status. If he didn’t like a person he kept his comments to himself. He could deal with the people who didn’t want to deal with him.”
Ken Chatman, president pro tem of the Village Board, could not be reached for comment.
This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Alorton Mayor Thomas Howard dies after battle with cancer."