Necrology

Elliott Jay Howard '49

Jan. 26, 1929-Jun. 18, 2023

Elliott Jay Howard ’49 died on June 18, 2023, in New York City. Born on Jan. 26, 1929, in Jersey City, N.J., he grew up in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and came to Hamilton from A.B. Davis High School. On the Hill, he was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity and majored in chemistry and Latin. An avid debater, he placed second in the McKinney Prize Debate in his junior year, was president of the Debate Club during his senior year, and was elected to Delta Sigma Rho, a national honorary forensics society. 

He also played on the basketball team throughout his time at Hamilton, and football as a freshman and sophomore. He was a member of the Intramural Council during his final two years, serving as its chairman during his last year. Also as a senior he was in both the Biology Club and the International Relations Club. He was on the staff of The Hamiltonian from his sophomore through his senior year.

From Hamilton, Elliott attended the New York Medical College to prepare for a career in medicine. For a time, as his studies continued, he was a student intern at Lenox Hill Hospital. Recognized at the time of his medical school graduation as one of 10 outstanding students, he returned to Lenox Hill for his internship. He began his residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in the Bronx in 1955, but it was interrupted by two years of service as a medical officer in the U.S. Air Force. On June 19, 1955, he married Marian Sandra Pack, an alumna of Sarah Lawrence College. Their first residence was at the Caribou Air Station in Limestone, Maine. They had three sons.

After he completed his military service in 1957, Elliott and Marian returned to New York where he resumed his residency in cardiology and internal medicine. In 1960, he and a colleague opened a private practice on Park Avenue in New York City, and he renewed his affiliation with Lenox Hill Hospital. That same year, Elliott was appointed to the faculty of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He also began conducting research on atherosclerosis at a time when the effects of cholesterol on the cardiovascular system were beginning to receive closer scrutiny in the scientific community.

Elliott also started to focus his attention on the benefits of regular exercise for heart health. By 1986, he had become medical director of the Foundation for Study of Exercise, Stress, and the Heart and published a book on the subject for a lay audience, Health Risks/How to Test Yourself and Lower Your Chances of Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke, Osteoporosis, Diabetes, and Stress, which was very well received. 

After his first marriage had ended, Elliott married Ulla Buchner, a native of Germany, in 1980. Subsequently, they traveled regularly to Saint Moritz, Switzerland, spending a month in the winter, which allowed for cross-country and downhill skiing, and another in the summer, the best season for alpine hiking. When in their New York residence, they would travel on weekends to their second home on Candlewood Lake in Western Connecticut. 

By 1994, Elliott had dissolved his partnership to collaborate with several internists in the founding of the Mid-Manhattan Medical Associates. He continued to serve on the board of directors of the New York County Medical Society. He was also a member and chair, for a time, of the Society’s Board of Censors, which had the authority to censure, reprimand, or even expel physicians whose professional conduct the society regarded as unacceptable, even life-threatening. For his outstanding contributions to New York’s medical community, New York Medical College gave him the Cors et Manus Service Award.

In addition to traveling and skiing, Elliott remained active playing squash and tennis — both carry-over sports from Hamilton. He was also a devotee of opera, regularly attending performances at the Metropolitan Opera. He traveled with the company on a two-week tour of Japan and counted among his patients several performers, including Luciano Pavarotti. Fine dining was another of his passions.

As Elliott recounted in his 50th reunion yearbook, Hamilton cultivated a balance of “intellectual curiosity, human values, athletics, and good fun. The emphasis on public speaking à la Swampy Marsh played a good role in benefitting my everyday life.” Of his experience on the Hill, he had nothing but “fond memories.”

Elliott J. Howard is survived by his wife, Ulla, three sons, and four grandchildren.

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